Imitation #2000: Kanye West,All Falls Down

"Then I spent 400 bucks on this
Just to be like nigga you ain't up on this!
And I can't even go to the grocery store
Without some ones thats clean and a shirt with a team
It seems we living the american dream
But the people highest up got the lowest self esteem
The prettiest people do the ugliest things
For the road to riches and diamond rings"

In these 8 lines of All Falls Down by Kanye West,Kanye is rapping about the struggles some people face to fit in to the higher social classes,specifically African Americans. Specifically in the first few lines he's talking about the pressure thats placed on him to go out dressed nicely even when hes just going to the grocery store. I feel that the message hes trying to get across is how much African Americans have to overcompensate just to be respected. In line 5 Kanye West alludes to the well known term "the American dream" and says that it only seems like they're reaching that goal but in reality they're struggling to keep up.I lines 1 &2,4&5, and 7&8 there are examples on end line rhymes because the words at the end of those pair of lines all rhyme. Also even though line 7 is straight forward, in my opinion it is one of the most captivating lines because it shows that external beauty means nothing when you're a bad person on the inside. I feel as if Kanye is basically saying that even the prettiest people who are idolized to really ugly (bad) things. I believe Kanye is speaking to everyone and isn't directing his song to anyone in specific. I believe this verse is both a confessional and a critique because hes talking about the struggles he faces and is also critiquing those same struggles society places on African Americans to fit in.