Hip Hop research

Hip hop genre from james Covill

Music Video Analysis: Section Boyz- Worst

Worst by Section Boyz conforms heavily to the grime genre. The themes of drugs, violence, crime and anarchy are rife throughout the video and the idea of a "purge" which relates to the films is present. The use of dark colouring and effects on most of the shots is used to showcase the "grimey" look to society that is often overlooked. It also could perhaps represent a social underclass which is keen to get revenge. Lots of low angled shots are used to make the artists look menacing and threatening which is another key convention of grime music videos. Another key convention that this video achieves is showing multiple people in one shot at a time. This creates the illusion that they are in a gang which is a common stereotype for young, lower class people. Multiple settings are used in this video and are cut between using lots of short clips and lots of quick cuts.

Music video director: Hannah Lux Davis

Hanna Lux Davis is a very successful music video director who has worked with the likes of Miley Cyrus, Jessie J, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne. Her position is unusual as she is a female in a very male dominated industry. She said herself that mainly she focuses on the visual side of a music video, drawing on photos to show her ideas for every video she does. She has won awards such as the MTV music video winner in 2013 for "Love me" (Lil Wayne) and the 2014 artist to watch winner with "Miss Movin' on" (Fifth Harmony). She has also been nominated for the MTV music video award winner 6 times since 2015 with various different artists.

                       

Similar artists to our genre

Music Video Analysis: Red Hot Chili Peppers- By The Way

"By The Way" by Red Hot Chili Peppers uses a mixture of set performance with the band and narrative. However, like many Red Hot Chili Pepper videos it incorporates a comedic twist. A good example of this is the fact that in the performance scenes the whole band is shirtless. This could also be seen in the behaviour of the taxi driver. The video uses a lot of quick cuts to suit the pace of the song. Some of the shots are even distorted and edited in such a way to suit the frantic pace of the song as it progresses.

This video clearly conforms to some of the basic codes and conventions of rock music videos. However it is a good example of how some bands might attempt to put their own spin on the genre.

Artist biography

Name: King J

Age: 19
Date of birth: 13th February 1997

First album name: 'Born n Bred' (2016)
Record label: Tri-Angle

Background: Born in Brooklyn, New York. As a young child he was a church boy and lived with his single mother. However, as he grew up he became involved in a gang and drugs. He witnessed his best friend getting shot at the age of 15 and from then on decided to dedicate his life to escaping the gang and pursuing his friends dreams in becoming a successful Hip Hop artist. His first single Day N Nite gets across his problems as a child and growing up. His favourite artists include J Cole, Jay Z and Drake, all of whom he takes inspiration from in his own music. His clothing consists of designer clothes and expensive jewellery in order to stand out from his past as a gang member and as a way of fitting in to the hip hop genre. This type of clothing also suits the conventions of a Hip Hop music video as it portrays wealth.

Music video analysis: Day n Nite- Kid Cudi

The video starts with an animated shot of a silhouette. This sets a pattern for the rest of the video as animations are used quite heavily throughout the video. 
The video then transitions to a non animated shot of the artist, Kid Cudi, walking down a street. The transition from the first shot to the second is smooth, as the silhouette walks towards the screen as it gets closer the black fades away into the urban setting of the second shot.


Animation is used again here to show a different side to the shop the artist walks into in the video.


The video also uses a mixture of animation and a normal shot at the same time to perhaps give off a sense of contrast. This could also be to show off two different worlds, a fantasy world and the real world, where the reality is darker and less colourful than the fantasy world. This could also trace back to the actual name of the song, where the "day" is the fantasy world and the "nite" is the reality.


This contrast between this so called fantasy world and reality is shown again here as the artist transitions from a colourful and more exciting location to a very mundane and plain shop.
The whole video seems to follow this trend of making dull and everyday things look more exciting and colourful. The title suggests that there are two sides to the world in day and night and the visual effects used in the video goes to emphasise this.

It is fair to say that this video is not very conventional to the hip hop genre. It doesn't really use the typical conventions of a hip hop video such as girls, money and club scenes. The animation was a key twist to the genre and makes it really stand out from the rest of the genre.

Music Video Analysis: November Rain- Guns N' Roses (Rock)

This is perhaps one of the most famous rock music videos.

Like most rock videos, it combines stage performances with a narrative. This is also a very typical convention of these kinds of videos. However, the majority of this video is either the whole band playing together or individual members playing. This video also uses the common instruments that are associated with rock music which are drums, guitars and vocals.


It also uses a darker colour scheme to fit in with the long standing convention that most rock artists either wear or conform to these colours. This convention dates back to the creation of the genre back in the 1940s and 1950s. As well as this, dark clothing is worn by a few members of the band in order to also suit this purpose.


The video's narrative appears to follow the process of life. Towards the start of the video we see shots of a wedding in place.
 
However, towards the end of the video we are shown shots of a funeral.

This narrative fits into the lyrics of the song as it talks about "love", "pain" and "fear". This fits into the convention of dark themes in rock music videos.

Music Video Analysis: Ill Manors- Plan B

This video belongs to the Hip Hop genre. However, this veers more towards the grime sub-genre. The video as a whole features elements of drugs, gang life and anti-establishment behaviour. These are very common elements of the grime sub genre.

The video starts with an establishing shot of the setting and the main artist himself. The setting is instantly recognisable as a grime/hip hop music video setting. Several more shots of the artist in what looks to be a very rundown and urban area follow this. Then the video becomes unique as it uses animation to portray what the lyrics are saying.

As is the case in most videos of this genre, the main artist is accompanied by a lot of extras who are they to essentially fill out the frame and portray the idea of this urban lifestyle. It is interesting to see how this video has used a mixture of performance, animation and narrative already.

The video goes on to talk about politics which is a very common theme in a lot of hip hop/grime videos. Many of these songs talk about how they don't like government and the politics of this country and this song is no difference. Politicians are mocked in order to portray the lack of faith that a lot of working class and unemployed people have in the politics of their nation.

Shots of riots and antisocial behaviour are also used in this video in order to fit into the whole narrative of the song itself. This is further backed up by shots of police and violence between the two groups.

Music video analysis: Amnesia- Skepta

This music video by Skepta starts with a shot of some pictures on a phone. This is evidently from a night out which instantly fits into the convention of partying in the Hip Hop genre. 


As the song gets into the first verse the scene changes to a shot of the main artist himself. It shows him in a hotel room which according to the lyrics he cant remember. There is also a shot of a pair of women's underwear which fits into the convention of sex that the genre often holds.
(Picture)

As the video progresses we are taken into a nightclub. This is a very typical setting of a hip hop genre and again fits into the convention of partying.


Throughout the video we are shown shots of exotic settings. This is another convention of hip hop videos as these type of settings are closely linked to the concept of wealth.

This video also contains the "male gaze" theory as women are sexualised for the pleasure of male viewers. This is another very typical feature of this genre.

Hip Hop/Rap music video analysis: 99 Problems- Jay Z

The first most noticeable thing about this video is the grey colour scheme. This fits right into the hip hop/rap genre and instantly suggests this song is going to have some sort of deep meaning/message about it. It is also good to note that a lot of Jay Z's songs have the same sort of feel to them, with some form of nostalgia or some story to tell from the past. This could be a use of intertextuality as it is a common theme throughout a lot of Jay Z's music. This fits into the Goodwin theory that nearly all music videos contain intertextuality.

There are quite frequent references to the slum life that a lot of people had to go through as a child, something which Jay Z also frequently references throughout all of his music. A shot of a man holding a gun and a child wearing a balaclava are the first signs of this sort of "ghetto" lifestyle which many endured. The setting of the majority of the video is also a reference to this as most of it is rundown buildings and squalid looking houses.

One of the typical conventions of a music video is ever present in this one. This is where there are lots of close ups of the main artist in order to emphasise who the attention should be on and to create more awareness of who the artist is for people who have never listened to their music before.

Throughout the video there is also evidence of the racial tension which existed in these ghetto type areas. This is particularly noticeable during the policeman scene.

There are also lots of moments in this video where women are sexualised purely for the male viewers. The "male gaze" theory is clearly in use here. This is a very common convention for this genre of music so it is unsurprising that it features here.

Genre brainstorm

This was our groups genre brainstorm. The other day in class our group brainstormed all the different genres there are and basically decided which ones we were interested in and which ones we weren't. I couldn't actually make the lesson on the day, however 2 members of our group started it and we finished it in the next lesson. This was a useful bit of research as we all decided on which genres we thought would be suitable to cover for our music video. In the end, we decided to go for hip hop as it is a very recognisable genre and one we are all familiar with.

Our genre

The genre our group has decided to choose is the Hip Hop genre. We all came to an agreement on this because we all felt familiar with the genre and most of us regularly listen to it. We are also familiar with many of the artists which makes it easier when it comes to creating our own one. Because of this we felt it was a logical choice to pick this genre.

Mobygratis research

http://www.mobygratis.com/home
Today during lesson we visited the website Mobygratis.com. This is a website where an artist has allowed people to use his music for free in non-profit pieces of film.

This is the home page of the website. This features a brief introduction to the site and a video from Moby himself explaining what his website offers.

This is the catalog of the website where people can choose which song they would like to use in their piece of work. To then use this song, they have to contact Moby himself who will accept the request within 24 hours.

There is also a video page on the website which shows videos which have used Moby's music and been sent in to be portrayed here.

This page is useful as it gives us another option for our music video. However, as a group we have come to an agreement that we will use a different song to cover instead of using any of the music from this page.

Songs and genres our group are considering

This is a list of songs and genres our group is considering to cover for our music video.



Prodigy- Breathe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmHDhAohJlQ (electronic)

Prodigy- Firestarter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmin5WkOuPw (electronic)

Skepta- Amnesia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_70a_tFddQ (hip hop/grime)

Wiley- Can you hear me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbQaCCb_Gzc (hip hop/grime)

Drake- Find your love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyv4Bjja8yc (rap/ hip hop)

Kid Cudi- Day 'n' nite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrDfSZ_6f4U (hip hop)

Black Eyed Peas- I gotta feeling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSD4vsh1zDA (hip hop/pop)

Sean Kingston- Fire burning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkyhvCdJ_vM (hip hop/rap)

Rolling Stones- Paint it black: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4irXQhgMqg (rock)

Lenny Kravitz- Fly Away: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvuL5jyCHOw (rock)

We haven't decided our genre at the moment, as shown by the variety of genres of the music videos listed above. However, the majority of the songs listed are hip hop. This is a genre our group is considering heavily. This is because it is a genre we are all very familiar with and all listen to. However, more research into the genre and other genres will conclude our decision.

These songs are not final choices and there may be others which we decide to add, the main focus of this piece of research was to look at different genres and how each music video was either different or similar to others in the same genre.