Media A2

Textual Analysis of Music Videos

I based my analysis of music videos on the Rap genre, this type of music has various characteristics and conventions in their videos such as explicit lyrics, gang affiliated themes and expensive lifestyles. The videos I analysed all contain different conventions of the genre due to the time the videos were released. This is because Rap has developed as a genre over the years and it has changed from artists frequently speaking about violence and negativity, to the Rap artists in the modern day who usually speak about their lavish lifestyles and riches. This change is due to Rap becoming a more recognised genre in the music scene, so artists are trying their best to widen their audience and make their songs more mainstream, allowing them to get more money. This shows Andrew Goodwins theory of genre as he suggests that genres change and evolve. That is the case here as the rapper has used the genre and gave it a mainstream vibe to attract and suit a wider audience. The music videos I analysed are: 50 Cent FT Akon Still Will, Chamillionaire Ridin, Jay-Z FT Mr Hudson Young Forever, Chipmunk Diamond and K-Koke FT Rita Ora Lay down Your Weapons These videos are from different artists and they illustrate their lyrics in different ways. 50 Cent and Akons song is based on their violent lifestyle and how they are not scared to commit crimes. The overall theme is fairly negative and the visuals are relevant to this. The video shows both artists in prison cells that effectively look like torture chambers. The artists are shown doing weight lifting in prison and one scene even shows a fight. This setting implies to the audience that the artists have had rough experiences such as prison and they are tough as they are having fights etc. The image created by the artists in the visuals differ to the image created by Chipmunk in his video Diamond. The whole of the song is based on Chipmunks expensive taste in clothing and jewellery, for example at 42 seconds when Chipmunk is shown clicking his fingers with a large diamond ring on his hands, this demonstrates how the Rap genre has developed and artists have changed their content to match a wider audiences needs in comparison to some rap artists who rap and sing about criminal activities which few people would be able to relate to. It came to my attention that throughout all the videos which were

Media A2 analysed, they all show close-ups of the artists at some point during the video. For example in Jay-Zs video at 3.29 and in Chupmunks video at 1.55 the close ups suggest that they are the most important person in the video as the camera is close-up on them. This is because the fans of the artist would be most interested in seeing the singer due to the fact fans tend to look up and aspire to be like their favourite artist, similar to Propps theory of narrative which suggests that the viewer looks up to the main artist as a hero. Some of the videos such as Chamillionaires and 50 Cents, not only represent the artist as a hero, but also as an anti-hero, this is because despite being a hero in the fans eyes, they are effectively talking about criminal, illegal lifestyles which goes against society and is rebellious towards the law. Levi-strausss theory of narrative states that all media has binary opposites and the artists here clearly have a conflict between good and bad. 50 Cents video with Akon opens with a reference to a previous video that he has done. The video in the opening has a huge difference in setting compared to the song with Akon. As we see, Still Will is based in a prison and has very negative outlook on the artists lifestyles as violence and crime are a large part. However, in the opening part of the video when an older 50 Cent video is shown, he is shown with expensive clothing, girls wearing revealing clothes and luxurious cars. Again, this demonstrates binary opposites between rich and poor. Notion of looking is the idea that artists are on sexual display, throughout this genre, we see this technique used when the artist is performing a song based on their achievements, females are often shown wearing revealing clothing and are in some ways seen as a trophy for successful artists. For example, in Chipmunks video, we see the chorus sang by a female R&B singer who has back-up singers behind her, these back-up singers are wearing shorts and tights and their upper half of clothing is fairly revealing. This shown at 53 seconds in the video and supports the idea of voyeurism, implying that even female viewers have to take the same view as males when watching this video and appreciate the women shown throughout. A similar technique was used in K Kokes video when the close-up of Rita Ora shows her with a face full of make-up, as it is a common trait in this genre of music to attract viewers, it could be seen as a pattern in all videos which would relate to Gunther Kresss theory of genre as he suggests that all pieces of media follow a certain template to make them easily recognisable.

Media A2 As mentioned before, the opening scene of the 50 Cent video shows a screen within a screen. The inside screen shows 50 Cent dressed in expensive clothing surrounded by cars and girls, this completely contradicts the video which features Akon as the artists are shown living in what looks like poverty in jail cells. Due to this, I believe that the screen within a screen effect was used to stress the huge difference between the two lifestyles 50 Cent was shown living. Intertextual references are not usually common in the rap genre as most songs are based on stories or events, links to other media are not necessary. However, Chipmunk has given an effect in his video which makes it look like a jazz video more than a rap video. He has done this by basing the video in a jazz club, wearing suits and having a sepia looking effect on the camera. He has used an intertextual reference at the opening of the video where the 3-2-1 countdown is shown. This countdown was used on old films and therefore shows how one piece of media can be used to influence what time another piece of media is based in. This supports Katie Waless theory of genre as she says that genre is an intertextual concept, meaning that media links to each other in some way. The majority of the videos analysed are performance based music videos, such as Chamillionaire performing his song in front of a green screen, or Jay-Z performing his song on top of a skyscraper roof. However, some of the videos use performance based videos crossed with concept based such as K Koke having his video in a prison wing which relates to the song itself. By having this setting, the artist is illustrating his song in an effective way by keeping the visuals relevant to the song. Akon and 50 Cent also use a concept based music video as they are talking about their criminal and violent lifestyles. Having a prison as a music video setting is a relevant concept to this song as people who are violent and criminals would most likely end up in prison. Narrative based videos are when the visuals tell a story to what is happening in the song. This technique is not used in the 5 videos analysed here as none of the songs tell a clear story. There is a slight hint of narrative based video in Chipmunks video as there is a short story shown from the artist entering the jazz club, watching the show and then leaving when police look for him. Overall, the individual videos have different techniques of attracting audiences; some of the artists such as Chipmunk have a rare approach of mixing another genre (Jazz) with rap in order to widen the target audience. Other videos such as K Kokes Lay down your weapons follow common conventions such as the artist wearing baggy clothes and caps etc. This is done to cater to the audiences expectations,

Media A2 following Christine Gledhills genre theory. My personal opinion is that the Chipmunk video has the most effective video as it uses all performance based, narrative based and concept based effects in the video. The video is not similar to others in the genre which makes it more entertaining, however it still contains common conventions, such as the artist showing off their success through materialistic items and the video is also supporting Vladimir Propps narrative theory of the main artist being a hero as he is constantly the main attraction of the video as close-ups are used throughout. In Rap videos, some artists are made to not only be heroes but also anti-heroes, this has been used in this video as Chipmunk is shown leaving the Jazz club when police enter, showing rebellious behaviour against the law. Due to the reasons I have mentioned, I believe that his video is the most effective.