Consonance and Alliteration in "Make Me Better"

“Make Me Better”
Song Analysis

New Yorker John Jackson, better known as the rapper Fabolous has released several top singles. One is "Can't Deny It", which helped to promote his debut album Ghetto Fabolous to platinum sales. His two follow-up albums sold well, but it was From Nothin' to Somethin' that has been his best performer to date. This album included the song “Make Me Better.” The album itself whet to Number 1 in the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop albums and Top Rap Albums charts at Number 2 on the Billboard 200 and has gone on to gold sales by April of 2007. Throughout the song “Make Me Better” he is focusing on the “ladies.” Fabulous features Ne-yo, both saying that their ladies are upgrading them, they’re currently much better. The song “Make Me Better,” contains several poetic devices. Before writing this song they explain that they want a lady that completes them and makes them better, you don’t want a lady who brings more arguments and bills into your life. Fabulous says, “You want a girl who, when you’re walking around with your tie crooked, she fixes your tie. That’s the kind of girl I am looking for.” Basically within the song they are saying how they want someone they can connects with, celebrity or non-celebrity, it really doesn’t matter. Throughout the song, “Make Me Better” there is two main poetic devices.
Within the song “Make Me Better” Fabolous uses many poetic devices.

The first device that was strongly used was consonance. This device is important to a reader and listener because it helps the rhythm of the song flow better. Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in a short sequence of words. The first example of consonance is directed in the first line of Fabolous’ solo, “Ya boy a good look by, she my better half.” This is a form of consonance because the words good and look share the same sound of “oo” within themselves. This line is saying that she is his better half that he needs her in his life. This shows the love that he has for her. Fabolous is focusing on showing the listener that he is better now than when he was before he met her, for instance, “I’m already bossin’, already flossin’.” This can also been seen as an example of consonance because they share the same consonant sound “oss” within the word. Lastly, the line “The sag in my swag, pep in my step.” The two words sag and swag share the sound of “a.” Then in the words pep and step, they share the sound “e,” which is a form of consonance as well. Fabolous is stressing upon how she makes him walk the way he walks, she herself makes him, Fabolous. These examples show the usage of consonance throughout Fabolous’ and Ne-Yo’s song “Make Me Better.”

Finally, as the listener you hear how Fabulous and Ne-Yo use alliteration. Alliteration took a big part in their song “Make Me Better.” Alliteration is the repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables. When writers want to emphasize certain words, they may use alliteration. The first example is within the first few lines of Ne-Yo’s solo “But if I’m a star, she is the sky.” These lines from “Make Me Better” is a way to show love and importance because Ne-Yo is saying that if he is just considered a star then she must be the sky because she is very important and has all kinds of things in store, she is no typical woman. Another source of alliteration is “The caked up cut, the cleaned up ice.” This is alliteration because the words caked, cut and cleaned up share the same “c” sounds in the beginning of each word. Fabulous also speaks “Top- notch Tim. /Nice-look, Ne-yo. /Livin’ good Lo-so.” Fabolous at his ending point is saying how he is living good because of the person this woman makes him.

Fabolous is an artist that writes about personal experience as well as fantasies, and things he wants. Whether these are faced circumstances he has gone through and had to overcome. “Make Me Better” is a good song to show how Fabolous feels toward this particular woman. Going through different relationships he shows how this relationship and woman has impacted him. Within this song, he seems to sound quite needy because he wants to share his life with her because she makes him better.