We printed out a lyric sheet of Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' We looked at them and analysed them in depth to deter-main how else we could interpret them and we saw a lot of lyrics in the song contain themes of downfall but also perseverance so we've taken that turned in from a person struggling to achieve his dreams to a person struggling not to end his life via drugs at a party and the song will be his battle of his mind set whether he should stop and not.
Through the Lyric analysis we've been able to see what how we can interpret the lyrics in a different way which still suits are story of a person struggling with drugs and is trying to subconsciously battling this which links to Altman's theory of pleasure more specifically emotional where this despite being a very specific topic the general theme of it is very key to everyone which is battling a struggle which is very apparent within these lyrics how a lot of them "Oh, there goes gravity Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked He's so mad, but he won't give up that Easy, no He won't have it." these lyrics show battling a struggle which links very well with our music video and will have these lyrics combined with our ideas of our music videos of shots of the person taking drugs will also be a very in your fave and visceral music video.
My initial idea was to recreate a classic rap video such as one performed by Dr Dre such as Dr Dre ft snoop dogg "nuthin but a g thang" as the setting is in a city but by an abandoned building and then later goes to a house party which are very conventional settings of rap even in Tech N9ne's music video for his song "Aw Yeah" is also in an abandoned industrial building so that would be a very conventional setting for our rap video. This kind of rap has turned into what we know as mainstream rap and I reckon this would be good for us as it being old fashioned style of rap and considering the settings within I believe that would be easy to replicate also after some in depth research most people preferred this style of rap over alternative rap as this is what they are most used to and like to hear. With this the main focus would be the camera shots and the sound and obviously the mise en scene as we have to get the location right and rap music videos often consist of a lot of camera shots with very quick pace editing to match the pace the artists rap. Narrative: We have decided to go with an abstract narrative as every music video incorporate this kind of style so this style is to bring in the audience to watch it but we also decided to go with a chronological linear story line to with the music video and even though this is not very typical of the rap genre to have this, Eminem subverts this and has this in a few of his songs such as 'Stan' as it doesn't focus on the artist but the story itself and the message which is trying to be conveyed and as our interpretation of the song still incorporates that serious message so we have decided to go with that to and we also decided to go with this that with our initial questionnaire our audience preffered a song to have storytelling with in it. Representation: We have decided to have an equal representation within our music video as rap music videos do often objectify woman from songs such as Tech N9ne 'Hood go crazy' to female rap artist Nicki Manjai's song 'Anaconda'. Conveying both gender's as equal is very subversive of the genre as it the songs mentioned woman are typically objectified and seen as objects as sexual tools and giving our female character a serious role show that female can still be incorporated not only in the music videos but the genre without being sexualized and still playing a vital role. Also we have decided on representing drinks and drugs in a negative way which again is subverting typical rap conventions of music videos as they tend to glorify drinking and drugs such cannabis. Audience Pleasures: After studying Rick Altman's genre research and after studying other music videos we have decided to go with emotional for audience pleasures rather than intellectual or visceral as with emotional it allows the audience to still not only listen to the song but be able to relate to the song where as if we chose a song which was very intellectual its hard to keep the audience entertained as well as being able to emotionally connect to the song so choosing a song which the lyrics are simple and easy to relate to allows the audience to be more invested in the song but still contains elements of visceral as the song does give you a reaction when you start listening to it especially as the song starts with piano keys playing which initially tells you the song is going to be quite slow but meaningful as that's what you typically associate with that kind of music. With have we have interpreted the song still having a serious message we want the audience to be able to relate and connect with the song. Ideology: We have decided to have a very serious message within our music video which is more or a message of coping and that partying and having fun is apart of life but excessive doing of this especially when coping with a genuine issue for example here an argument with a loved one where our character has chose to drink to cope and we will have a multitude of different shots all containing different alcohol from bottles to cans and even in different places implies the excessive drinking and also we will incorporate shots of his downfall from being unstable and out of control of his own body till eventually containing a shot were will have him passed out on the pavement outside showing that using a substance alcohol as an example is not a coping mechanism but if anything leads to a further downfall which is a message most people can relate to as everyone in life has times were they really struggle. Summary I have made lots of decisions about the narrative, ideology, representation and audience of our texts. This all goes with the audience research we have done and the theory i have read to contribute towards a music video that uses some codes and conventions of rap such as the close ups on the main star and the urban settings, whilst picking an Eminem style storytelling narrative and a positive social message in ways that keeps to Eminem's style but subverts the mainstream traditional rap.
A DigiPak is a patented style of CD or DVD packaging DigiPaks are designed to fold into a square CD case The front of DigiPaks tend to have a large eye-catching picture on them - Typically related to a song or image of artist DigiPaks come in all different styles and designs. They vary in artwork
Collision Course (Jay Z, Linkin Park 2004): This album is a combination album of the rap artist Jay Z and heavy rock band Linkin Park and just by looking at their album you can expect a gritty in your face style as the images and text on the album has many different styles and are very distorted but in your face making it catch your eye also with the disk itself its blue with black on the side looking like its been spray painted showing and expressing the gritty nature of the album.
Discovery (Tinie Tempah 2010): This album Digipak is a lot different from the Jay Z and Linkin Park one as you can see its not rugged or street style, Tine Tempah's album Digipak as you can see is very futuristic and even has a image of the artist holding a city in his arms and even though the design may not be typical of the genre it still conforms to a lot of conventions of Rap style for example his upper body and head holding the city fills up an entire section of the Pak showing he is the main focus of it but him also holding the city could imply his songs also relate to achieving your dreams and changing the world or could even imply "The world is yours". Also this was a released 6 years after the Jay Z and Linkin Park album possibly showing how the style has rap has developed but also both albums being released by different artists from different countries as Tine Tempah is a British artists showing it could imply the different cultural styles the countries have.
Summary
After comparing both DigiPaks I can see despite the many differences in still contains many similarities, even though the styles are completely different they can still contain the themes of the genre but both express them few a unique style not typically seen but want to still keep to the roots of the genre.
We have decided to make our digipak still very urban which will contain many images or urban landscape which is very common for the genre but instead will be urban realism rather than very flashy and also even though are actor appears in multiple images like most rappers do he is still not the main focus as you can't see his face showing there's more to it where typical digipaks will have the artist as the main focus and edited in a way were everything points to them so this way we are still conforming to typical traits of the genre but also subverting it at the same time.
Typically rap music is targeted at younger men as the rap genre is a typically male dominated genre as the most successful artists in this genre are male for example Eminem, Dr Dre, Ice cube and more but still targets some young females as well. The reason the target audience is typically younger is become of the themes rap music as it often references, drugs, alcohol, parties and women but also themes of struggle of youths and how hard it is growing up in this day and age which also primarily targets youths as they can relate more to it.
In addition with rappers normally starting their career at a young age including experienced rappers like Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre , Ice Cube and more started their careers in the 1980's when they were still very young and even those artists rap about their struggles of growing up and them being similar age at the time to their target audience the audience related more as they understood the true meaning behind their lyrics and understood their lives are a struggle and that they acknowledge that other people struggle to so is often people who are of a lower class or working class growing up in urban areas. Also is a very multicultural genre of music as the lyrics don't target a specific ethnic group unless referring again to the struggles that certain ethnic group might be facing. Making young people the primary target audience
Summary
If we are going by the LifeMatrix these people would be considered Tribe wired which means they use a lot of digital devices, considered free spirited and creative young people and Also Fun/Atics who are Aspirational, Fun seeking and active young people and this fits into the genre very well as Rap music is normally about having fun as much as you can whilst you can but also achieving your dreams and goals. To meet their needs we will do lots of questionnaires for them to target what they like now we know what our audience is like.
In our next step analysis we have chosen to recreate Eminem's 'Lose yourself' as we have seen this video to be very relevant as based off our questionnaire it matched a lot of the criteria that people wanted to see within a rap music video.
This music video is set in an urban area and is typically dark lighting, even with shots based in the day time the light is still dark which represents his dark story from 'Zero to Hero' as he achieves what he wanted to do even with the struggles along the way. Also like most rap videos this contains a variety of camera shots and movements that I believe we will be able to recreate and adapt very well and make it our own. Also the costume Eminem wears throughout is slightly different from what you see in most rap videos and in most rap music videos the rap artist is wearing expensive tracksuits along with expensive 'bling' but in this he isn't wearing any cloths that make him stand out. We have interpreted the song differently and we are going to do it in a party setting as that is very typical of the genre. However though it won't be a typical party themed rap song instead this will show the struggle of a young teenager going through a very tough time in a domestic abusive relationship and decides to go on a drug spree at a party and the music video will slowly show his body not being able to control himself and falling apart and is a message of overcoming and perceiving through the hate and abusive and learning that a drug OD is not the answer. Camera: A lot of shots within this will be close ups and extreme close ups as we really want a close look at the person deterioration as he takes more and more drugs also a lot of handheld movement so it seems more like we are there with that individual which is very similar to rap music videos as rap typically has a lot of fast pace close ups to match with the speed of rapping.
These charts show the results from a questionnaire we carried out:
This Chart shows the ages of the people we handed out the questionnaire's to and as you can see the highest number was people aged to 17-20 which is actually very helpful as the target audience of the Rap genre is typically younger people.
This chart here shows what types of rap to people prefer to listen to, Mainstream rap music or alternative and as you can see most people said they listen'd to mainstream but still a large proportion prefer to listen to alternative.
This Chart compares these 2 layouts from a magazine and on the questionnaire we asked people to put which layout did they prefer and also why did they prefer that. As you can see Layout A was the most popular choice and a lot of answers refereed to the fact in was more striking and eye catchy.
This Chart was a multiple choice question where people tick the boxes of what they wanted to see most in a Rap Music Video and the most popular choice was story telling well they want to see a clear developed story throughout the song.
This Question also contained an open choice where people could say specifically why they preferred that poster and one of them was "the first because it has a quote that catches the eye and stands out more" and I liked this answer and if you look at rap posters they like to stand out to the audience.
We Chose these questions to chart and analysis as we believe these questions gave us a better insight into what people expect and want to see and hear in the Rap genre.
This is the questionnaire:
Summary
From the data I have gathered from my questionnaire I was able to analysis that most people preferred a rap music video which is mainstream and often contains a story with in it and a music video which is a very good example of this as it has incredibly huge popularity as well as a clear story within it is Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' where you see the life of Eminem and is off the soundtrack for Eminem's movie '8 mile' as you see the life as a man as he struggles to live a normal life whilst also striving for his ambition to be a rap artist. This will also help us to do the storytelling narrative that our audience wanted us to do.
Editor- Tommy Camera Man and Costume- Emily Props Manager- Jordan Setting/ Set Designer- Kirsty My role is main editor and that is for the ancillary tasks and also for the main music video. As a result i will need to learn a lot about editing on photoshop and imovie.
Richard Dyer noticed that "pop performer" and "pop star" have become the same thing in the eyes of the public, but in media terms, they are not the same thing. Pop stars have an identity or persona which is not just about them being a musician or their music. They also need 'brand awareness' to last in the business and in the media market. A star's image is someone who is instantly recognised in many different media forms and platforms. They use the fact that their image has meaning allowing it to be used for advertising purposes. In music videos, this means that record labels will require an artist to have certain costume, close-ups and certain photoshoots to meet the terms of the contract, because the record label wants to create a lasting brand that is recognisable globally. This is controversial, because it is not a real person, it is a constructed image and also because it is false to some extent and takes away from the music and real talents of the star. In the star's image they will contain cultural values and attitudes known as ideology. For Eminem he creates a brand by using the same font and name and the use of the "E" backwards on all of his merchandise and advertising. This is very simple but effective. Also his brand achieves this by having lots of pictures that are dark or urban and often at nighttime.
The evolution of rap music videos hasn't really changed much as themes and visual in the videos are still apparent.
The first music video is a song by rapper Dr Dre featuring another well known rap artist Snoop Dogg and its called "Nuthin but a 'G' Thang" and was released on Dre's 1992 album The Chronic.
The second music video is by rapper Tech N9ne featuring other rappers B.O.B and 2 Chainz and is off Tech N9ne's 2015 album Special Effects.
Both Music videos contain very similar aspects and throughout the whole of both music videos it is the rappers having a party featuring fancy cars , parties and alcohol.
You see here both cars in the different music videos but this shows you have music videos in the rap genre have evolved as in modern day music video the car is a much more expensive car representing how much popular the genre is now compared to then that they have the money to afford such cars for the video.
This shows that conventions and style of rap has remained incredibly similar considering the massive gap of 23 years between these music videos the lyrics in the first video of 'Nuthin but a 'G' thang' "Ready to make an entrance, so back on up" implying that they have arrived and are now bringing the 'Party' so to speak and parties with alcohol and drug references are a very popular topic rap and in 'Hood go Crazy' song there's a lyric saying "I want to par-ty (Huh?) You want to par-ty (Yeah?)" again doing the theme of parties. The way you see how the music videos have evolved is as said previously everything is more expensive not just the cars but always where the parties are being hosted are different as the first one is in a house showing how production value for rappers has increased much higher which could represent the rappers showing how successful they've gotten.
Even though not focused on you can still see the house in the background
Again not focused on but you can clearly see in the background a Mansion in the background showing how the videos have evolved as the genre is so popular that they can use more expensive houses but still paying tribute to older videos as you can see in both screenshots 2 men by cars with the houses in the background in a dual long shot.
Is this what audiences expect?
I believe this is what audiences expect in music videos as said previously audiences typically know what to expect in rap music videos as they are known for they're explicit lyrics and usual style that they've stuck that made the genre popular.
As you can see here both are long shots showing crowds of people dancing and having fun again showing how themes and topics have still stayed the same throughout the years.
Negative or positive representation?
These videos I believe show a positive representation as they are just rapping about partying and having a good time with their friends and some people may disagree and believe it is a bad representation as they are drug and alcohol references and topics like this is what would spark controversy but that's a matter of personal opinion which could link to hypodermic needle theory were people are meant to fed a message straight away but this theory is limited to the persons emotions and personal beliefs.Also the reason for such explicit lyrics and and such is the fact both companies that produced these songs are independent with big star names and you will often find big stars partner with smaller companies that way they can get their view point more across as they aren't limited to their content.
Rap music video is often considered negative as it has been known to objectify woman an example of this would be ASAP Rocky song 'Fucking Problem' and this in the chorus says 'I love bad bitches that's my fucking problem, Yeah I like to fuck that's my fucking problem' and this can be seen as negative and a poor representation of woman in Rap as it shows how he doesn't see woman as a person but an object of sexual desire which is a negative aspect of rap. Also with Tech N9ne's song 'Hood Go Crazy' as it has the lyrics 'So much liquor, I never spare that kitchen Keep it so I usually have a pair that's kissin' and this can also been seen as negative as it seems to be glorifying drinking as well as again objectifying woman as he says 'a pair that's kissin'. Even Female rapper Nicki Manjai shows woman in a poor overly sexual light with the song 'Anaconda' as she often refer's to aspects of her body and her sexual nature and within the music video she always is wearing very minimal clothing. Referring again to Tech N9ne's song 'Hood go Crazy' there are multiple woman who wear very revealing clothing and do not sing or rap in the music video at all so are there purely for voyeuristic reasons which links to Laura Mulvey's theory of The Male Gaze (1975).
This can been seen as a very negative representation of woman as in this music video the only purpose the woman show are for sexual pleasure for the men and woman being shown in such a way can put the possibility in young men's mind that it is appropriate to treat woman in such a manner and is also negative for young females as they might believe that is the appropriate way to act and behave so this is a very negative representation.
Drugs is a very common topic often brought up in many rap songs more specifically Cannabis and you see this in Dr. Dre's song 'KUSH' which features Snoop Dogg and Akon and the name 'KUSH' is a different name for Cannabis.
The start of the music video even contains Dr Dre trying to work a lighter then contains shots showing many people smoking joints and this can been seen as glorifying cannabis use as they do it so casually and normally it can been seen as a negative representation as it can be interpreted in a way were it glorifies and will make people start smoking it as its been so commonly however you can say this isn't a negative representation but a realistic one as many rap songs refer to the drug so it is just a representation of how they live their lives and how others do around them. Many rap songs over the years have had cannabis as the topic of their song for example Afroman 'Because I got high' where despite laughing and being 'high' in the music video he is saying he didn't accomplish things because of taking the drug showing a positive message in a sense of not to take the drug. But modern day hip hop artist and rapper Fetty Way in many of his songs does reference the fact he does smoke Cannabis including 'Trap Queen' and '679' and which can be a strong reflection of the time as 4 states in America have legalized the drug which are Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Colorado and because of this rappers possibly are more open and speak about them smoking cannabis more freely as its becoming more accepted in modern times.
There are many representation's in rap which are seen to be negative but there are also rap songs which represent serious messages and positive messages and one of these is 2pac's collaboration with Elton John of the song 'Ghetto Gospel'
The song title itself is key as 'Ghetto' is a reference to what gang filled neighborhoods were called and Gospel is the teaching of Christ which brings up the theme of religion which again is common within rap. In the music video a young man is shot down by a gang in a car showing the serious circumstances many rappers had or do have to live in allowing listeners to process the harder topics in life. Neither Elton John and 2pac feature in the music video showing this isn't about them so it isn't a typical 'advertise' narrative further conveying the serious message and also subverting your typical rap music video narrative. 2pac even says in the song "If I could recollect before my hood days
I'd sit and reminisce, thinking of bliss of the good days" showing he wishes he could change his past and wants to remember the good times but is now using his current circumstances to send this message of turning away from guns and violence and searching for peace instead which is a very positive representation of the genre as it is more inspiring and implies life can change for the better.
I have addressed and noticed many negative representations in the genre such as drugs, alcohol , violence and objectification of woman. However you can take positive aspects from this as this is just the artist conveying the lifestyle of the C2DE audiences so showing real issues in real places that the audience can relate to.
Summary
Lastly, we do plan to address the themes and representation such as the urban settings, alcohol and drug lifestyle more particularity the party lifestyle rappers convey but also showing the difficult life most rappers live but we won't send any negative messages about objectifying women or taking drugs. As a result we will need to use females in our music video but make sure the image constructed of them is positive and not sexualised in any way. We also need to think of a way of making them seem higher status.
I would summaries Goodwin's theory by he looks at a video to see the meaning behind it. His theory suggest you should look and analysis all the details of a music video as in some way, shape or form it has meaning behind it and relates to the lyrics the artist is saying on screen. This can be done through visual effects or the choreography on screen by said artist or even dancers in the video if dancers are there.
I can apply this theory to one of my chosen music video Eminem's Real Slim Shady.
In this video you see through the combination of his lyrics and visuals on screen the meaning behind his song for example in the chorus he always references one of his stage names "Slim Shady" and says "Can the real Slim Shady please stand up" as he says this multiple times he is in a room full of people dressed exactly like him even with the same bleach blonde hair and as he says this he is often the focus on the camera as the camera uses a combination of a low angle shot with mid close up with Eminem's face at the centre and this implies meaning as it represents Eminem's person belief that no one should try to copy or be like other people as you should just be who you are. Goodwin's theory applies well here as you can see through the visual effects and whats happening in the video the meaning behind it and see what the narrative is.
This is very typical narrative of the rap genre as rap music videos tend to have an Abstract narratives as there is no start and finish to the music video that what is happening on screen is all over the place whilst also showing an Advertising Narrative as the star is typically the spotlight and main focus of the music video and this narrative is also very common within the genre and often appears with the abstract narrative and this is shown clearly in 'Real Slim Shady' and shots and cuts often go back to the same scenes with nothing actually happening showing there is no real narrative. This conforms to Lyotard's theory as he doesn't believe in meta narratives so a traditional story.
From my studies I have learned that there are 3 different types of narrative within music videos:
Advertising (Showing off star and their image)
Abstract (There is no clear narrative)
Chronological (There is a clear start to finish narrative)
Above is the music video to Eminem's song 'Stan' which subverts Lyotard's postmodernist theory against meta narratives as Stan has a clear chronological meta-narrative within it and doesn't have a main focus of the rapper in fact barley contains any shots containing him meaning it doesn't conform to a typical advertising narrative as he is not the focus or publicizing himself and as there is a clear story which is about an obsessed fan wanting to be like Eminem but ends up destroying his life and everything around him and ends with Eminem rapping whilst writing a letter to 'Stan' and is the only part of the music video which actually focuses on him. Compared to most music videos in the genre, this is unusual, as most music videos are abstract and conform to Lyotard's theory.
After studying narrative theory I have become very interest in the work of Eminem and how his lyrics and music videos subvert your typical advertising and abstract narrative and he focus a lot on a chronological narrative which tell you clear stories whilst trying to communicate a moral message which is also subversive of the genre at the time. Eminem still contains elements of the other narrative as he still is the focus of the majority of his music videos and some of his music videos such as the real slim shady do contain elements of an abstract narrative as there is random moments and no clear start to finish. As a result, Eminem was ground breaking, because he exploited the genre in new ways.
Summary
As a result of this research i am interested in making a video which subvert's Lyotard's theory of metanarratives and proves that you can have one main story and a chronological element to the music video whilst also having elements of the abstract narrative expected from the editing style of a music video.
The top poster is an album by rap artist Eazy-E "Str8 off tha Steetz of Muthaphuckin Compton" which was released 8 months after Eazy-E's death in 1995 where as the Eminem album Recovery was released in 2010 so there is 15 years difference between them.
Codes and Conventions of a music poster:
General color code throughout poster through the images and the fonts
Name of album
Artist will often feature on poster
Will often feature release date of album
Will name couple of the tracks on the album
Artist will typically be focus point of poster
Eminem, Recovery:
With this poster it subverts a typical rap poster as Eminem isn't the focus point of the poster, in fact his whole body is at the edge and doesn't fill up the poster which isn't typical, also it has a very basic style and nothing about it particularly stands out about it expect the 'O' in the album title is replaced with a cross you'd often see on an ambulance in America representing the title 'Recovery' .
Eazy- E, Str8 off Tha Streetz of Muthaphuckin Compton:
With this poster it is very conventional to a typical rap poster as Eazy-E is the main focus of the poster as he is right in the center of the poster and his costume is also very conventional of the genre as he is wearing a cap with shades and a jacket also the font of the writing are very bold and bright making them stand out immensely.
Differences:
There is a 15 year gap between the poster and you see how different they are that the artist in Eminem's poster doesn't focus on him and you can't see what he looks like where as with Eazy-E's he is the main focus point and you can clearly see who it is. This could either represent the artists different ways they want to present their music to the public or even could represent how posters in that genre have developed over the years and that possibly artists aren't considered the main focus point anymore.
Similarities:
Both posters show the titles very clearly and in bold writing showing both artists clearly want the audiences to know the title so they can purchase it. They're both wearing tracksuits which is typical within the genre.
My music video is of the genre of rap as I feel rap music is very unique as often rap artists meaning behind their songs is what they believe to be wrong with the country and what the government are doing wrong so I felt like it would be a an interesting genre to explore.
This genre normally makes me feel good and upbeat as often the beat behind it is upbeat and as I get into the song more i listen to the lyrics better understanding the artists view point and makes me feel that possibly it is a time for change.
Conventions of Rap:
Rap typically targets younger audiences around late teens to young adults depending on the artist for example with an artist such as Kendrick Lamar being relatively new on the rap scene younger audiences are primarily targeted but with artists such as Ice Cube who has been active since the 80's older audience will be a targeted audience as well as they are accustomed to the style of rap back then.
Clothing:
You will typically find in music videos rappers wearing expensive yet casual clothing such as tracksuits or jersey's. Rick Altman put genres into 3 different kind of pleasures which were Emotional, Visceral and Intellectual. Emotional- The emotional pleasures offered to audiences of genre films are particulary significant when they genreate a strong audience response
Visceral- These are 'gut' responses and are defined by how the film's stylistic construction elicits a physical effect upon its audience. This can be a feeling of revulsion, kinetic speed or a 'roller coaster ride'.
Intellectual - Certain film genres such as the thriller offer the pleasure in trying to unravel a mystery or a puzzle. Pleasure is derived from deciphering the plot and forecasting the end or being surprised by the unexpected
I would say with the genre of rap it is much more of a Visceral pleasure and Emotional as rap videos are very stylized and a lot have the themes of party but some have a very dark meaning behind it or has themes of the American dream which is obviously in America an very touching subject which links to everyone and because of the style rap music videos have they are always very eye catchy and make the audiences keep looking and not turn away.
Above you see the typical conventions that you would see in almost every music video despie the genre
Above is the specific conventions you'd often find in a rap music video
These conventions are key as they are what shows the audience that this is a rap video other than lyrics than rhyme which each other, I shall incorporate a lot of these conventions in the music video as it will be key to stick correctly to the genre.
For our A2 media project we have chosen to do a Music Video but before we do this we have to do some research about institutions to find out what label would be right for us and what genre we would like to use. For this I have chosen 3 major music institutions and 1 independent institution.
Strange Music:
Strange Music, Inc. is an American independent record label specializing in hip hop music. It was founded by Tech N9ne who is the music labels biggest artist and Travis O'Guin in 1999.It is currently distributed through Fontana Distribution. Last year in 2014 Strange Music sold 114,005 albums last year from "Tech N9ne- Strangeulation", "¡Mayday! x Murs- ¡MursDay!", "Ces Cru- Codename: Ego Stripper" and finally" Rittz - Next To Nothing", Tech n9ne making most those sales as his album so 78,000 copies.
Top Artist:
Tech N9ne is the brand's biggest stars and a founder of the label and has released 15 studio Albums with 1 more 'Strangeulation Voll. ll" to be released later this year. Tech N9ne has made multiple songs challenging the government and exploring his true beliefs and you see this in particular with the song "Aw Yeah? (interVENTion)" and in this song the first lyrics are "Question for the the maker…and it's…aw yeah? This the way it's supposed to be huh? Alright " then shortly followed by "If you up there Upstairs, This is Nina tellin' you to listen, The vision I'm givin' everyday, Life is dumpin' on us like a pigeon" telling us his beliefs of religion that he wishes to make a change in society and that if there is a god help him to make change society for a good and not for destruction. "Yellin' this to my superior, Degrading of love is inferior,Upon this earth a lot of people jerked around about 300,000 to Syria Are you serious?" This quote challenges the government as he is talking about the events going on in Syria and showing that the government are just throwing lives away.
Analysis of Video:
In this music video Tech N9ne is the only person in the video and and as he raps is consistently moving his arms to match to his words furthering his message through body language.The Camera at the beginning of the Video is a close up of the rappers face looking at it from the side with a flickering light on his face which you learn later on are candles. Then you see a long shot of him with White Make up on his face with hundreds of copies of himself in the background used possibly as an establishing shot to express his view that society wants a change and the make up on his face has one key feature which is a Cross on his nose hinting the religious theme this song his based around. The editing is very fast pace cutting to a load of different angels matching the pace of his rapping and could help emphasize how he feels about his material. The setting is mostly in a empty factory that looks like its been abandoned for years possibly representing the unemployment in the country. The Music in the background is a combination of modern day hip hop as well as opera possibly 19th or 18th century which could represent music older n times which were much more religious would listen to say at a theater or church which matches the theme of the song as well as introducing his style with the hip hop beat. At the end of the music video the music cuts and he just shouts out " And I ain't even got around to askin' you the question God, What about my, mama!?" and this stands out as he shouts this with no music in the background so doing this makes it go straight to you the viewer so showing he misses his mother and wishes she was still there. "The majority of teens (66%) surveyed 10 said they had not seen any programming on TV before 9pm in the previous 12 months that had made them uncomfortable or they had found offensive11" this was taken from " http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/t mm earch/ofcom-for-parents/prewatershed-tv-programming.pdf " and this states how teenagers find certain aspects of music videos offensive and the reason i am referencing this part to this music video is because this song talks hugely of religion and the goverment but not in a positive aspect and America still being a hugely religious country loads of families grow up around religion so they might find remarks that Tech N9ne references to offensive. "The level of concern regarding music videos was
higher among parents aged 35-44, female parents, parents whose eldest child is
aged 10-14,".
Shady Records:
Shady Records is an American record label which was founded in 1999 by the rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg after the release of Eminem's second Studio album "The Slim Shady LP" as it was hugely successful selling around 18,000,000 copies worldwide and getting a multitude of Platinum certifications. After being signed for 3 years with Aftermath Entertainment under Dr dre and now despite having his own record label is still signed with Aftermath for now 15 years.
Analysis Of Video:
Video starts off with a dual shot of nurses not paying attention to their jobs then a close up to the dwarf nurse just chucking the medicine without looking showing she doesn't care about what happens to the patients then a mid long shot of a room full of people in normal cloths but acting strangely including the rapper himself in a Patient's robe.Multiple shots afterwards mostly all focusing on Eminem with strange things happening include a panning shot of him running in a superhero costume. Often low angle shots looking at Eminem as he raps the lyrics "real slim shady" This could imply a viewpoint of personal self as in you should be the real you and this is emphasized in this by having multiple men around him who look identical with him with the same bleached hair and white top and jeans combo but them standing around him and the real "Slim Shady" square in the middle. Also the lyrics "My bum is on your lips, my bum is on your lips
And if I'm lucky, you might just give it a little kiss"
This image above could suggest relates to the lyric raps at that moment as you can clearly see from a low angle point of view a large prosthetic bum exposed by a massive hole in the lycra suit. With the bright colors combined with the superhero style of the costume could be used to juxtaposed his lyrics and contents making it ironic as he is not a superhero here to save the day he is just a man rapping get his point across. The lyrics above the image suggests that Eminem is tired of fed up of people trying to be like him and Brown nose him through imitation of his style and persona. This could suggest that Eminem feels that everyone is unique is their own different way and you shouldn't try to take someone else's uniqueness away from them and focus on what makes you authentic. Often when you see him rapping in the video the camera normally focuses on his face in a form of close up or like a zoom and the lighting is normally very strong highlighting on him specifically.
Aftermath Entertainment:
Aftermath Entertainment is an American record label which was founded by rapper and producer dr.dre in 1996. It operates as a subsidiary of, and is distributed through, Universal Music Group's Interscope Records. The Record labels current acts include such artists like Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Jon Connor with former acts including 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes,Game, Raekwon, Eve, Rakim and many others.
This video has the rappers ( Eminem, 50 Cent, Cashis, Lloyd Banks) all in prison uniforms being transported to other prisons possibly used to mock societies views on rap on how it causes people to commit crimes because of the music which you can also link to ICE CUBE's song "Gangsta rap made me do it".
Doggystyle Records:
Doggy Style Recordsformerly known asDogghouse Records, is an Americanrecord labelfounded by RapperSnoop Doggin 1995. It is named after Snoop's 1993 debut album,Doggystyle which was the Rappers debut studio album released by Death Row Records.
