Representation

Representation

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.

Narrative Theory

Summary Of Goodwin's Music Video theory:

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. 

Codes and Conventions of a Music Poster

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. 

Rick Altman Genre Research

Genre Research

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. 

Conventions of a Music Video

Conventions of A Music video:

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.