Textual analysis of Jay-Z 99 problems

The single 99 Problems was released by Jay-Z in 2004. Jay-Z is a famous rapper and is today highly successful, both as a singer and as a record producer. However his life began in far less fortunate circumstances and this music video tells of some of the struggles that he had to go through to get where he is today. The genre of the video is hip-hop / rap.

Mise-en-scene

The video is shot in black and white. This helps to portray the gritty, urban imagery of the video. The whole video is full of varied imagery and never repeats itself. The urban setting follows the generic conventions of rap.

There is a shot of a boy pointing a gun out of the window. He is a silhouette figure, with detail outside, and this leads to an increased tension about him as the audience cannot really see who he is or what he is doing. The use of guns is stereotypical of the rap genre. The use of guns connotes a gangster life style to the audience which again is a stereotypical view on the African American community.

The video shows several images of scantily dressed women. Some are prostitutes, others just beautiful women attached to Jay-Z’s group. This is stereotypical of rap videos, where women are portrayed as sex objects for men to gaze at and use for their own ends. There is an element of voyeurism as male viewers of the video would enjoy gazing at the beautiful women.

There are expensive motor bikes and cars in the video which are used extensively in rap videos. These show an affluence and high style of living that the artist has now acquired. Jay-Z is shown in a car with a boot full of drugs 

. This denotes a gangster lifestyle, possibly drug dealing or prostitution.

Jewellery is heavily featured to connote wealth and power.

At the start of the clip there is a wall covered with graffiti, which is stereotypically associated with gangs and the African American community. This is heavily backed up by the costumes worn by the cast, which are mainly jumpsuits and sports caps. This again is a stereotypical representation of the African American community as they are usually seen to be wearing this style of clothing.

Sound

“Do you know why I’m stopping your for ““Coz I’m young and black”. Young African Americans feel hassled by the police and this is shown in the video. This again is stereotypical view of the police against the African American community.

A line in the song “I’ve got 99 problems but a bitch ain’t one” shows a stereotypical representation of women. The word bitch is demeaning and implies a far lower status than that of the man.

At some points during the video Jay-z says the word ‘Nigger’ which is a word commonly linked to the African American community but however is now seen as a term used by gangs as a way of talking to their friends.

Setting

The setting was a housing estate in Brooklyn, New York City where Jay-Z grew up. There are numerous different locations from the estate which combine to give a real picture of urban life.

Brooklyn has a stereotypical association of gang violence and is notorious for housing a large number of African Americans.

The dog fight scene took place in an abandoned warehouse on a pier in Brooklyn.

Prostitutes are shown walking the streets of Brooklyn. The camera follows Laura Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze Theory’ where the camera is treated like the males eyes.

Jay-Z is shown performing in a club. The atmosphere was rather nasty and troubled, and the shots had a frenetic feel.

There are shots taken within a prison. Again this is stereotypical of rap videos where there is constant friction with the police and with the law. This is reinforced by the negative way in which the police are represented. The video reinforces the phrase in the rap:

There are a lot of pictures of women and children, street dancing which is stereotypical of the genre.

Representation

The primary audience for this hip-hop / rap video would be young African American males.

Jay-Z feels discriminated against when he is stopped for driving at 55mph in a 54mph zone. This shows how young black males feel they are discriminated against by the police and also implies that the white police feel threatened by the black males. There are very definite representations of race discrimination in the video.

There are many representations of poverty in the video. There is a shot of a young black boy who appears innocent until he pulls down a mask over his face, connoting a threat and showing he is about to take part in some illegal activity. The video makes us think about the lengths people in poverty will go to in order to survive.

There is evident voyeurism as there are several shots of beautiful women in bikinis which show the woman to be a sexual plaything for the men and would certainly attract male attention to the video. Women are exploited for their bodies.

Jay-Z is dressed in designer clothing with obvious displays of wealth and jewellery. This represents the stereotypical rap star, and other males would look up to him and aspire to be like him.

The video shows Jay-Z with a gang in several shot which is a stereotypical representation of African Americans as they are stereotypically seen to be involved in street crime and gang violence.

Camera

The video is shot at a very fast pace. This gives a frenetic feel to the video. Jay-Z is always moving about, he is never settled and constantly active. The pacing is very fast and the cuts are quick in succession.

There are many close up shots of Jay-Z in the video. This allows the audience to relate directly to him and he becomes instantly recognizable. The record company would want high profile shots of the artist for advertising purposes.

Low angle shots are used in the video where the camera appears to be low and looking up at Jay-Z. This makes him look larger than he is and gives him power as an artist and a status above his audience. It shows how he has moved up in the world.

The lighting used throughout is minimalistic and low key. The black and white used throughout the video could connote to the challenges faced between the black and white cultures of New York. It does also give the video an edgy feeling creating disturbing shadows. It suggests danger, for example when the police stop Jay-Z in a car in a typical setting of a New York block of flats. This setting connotes crime.

There are establishing shots throughout which set the scene for the video.

Narrative

The video is a narrative based video. It joins together a lot of clips taken from an area of Brooklyn. These clips are put together to give a picture of urban life.

This was the area where Jay-Z grew up and the story of the video tells how far he has come in life from his early roots in a deprived housing estate.

At the end of the video Jay-Z is gunned down. This is a visual climax to the video.

Titling

There are no titles used in this music video. 


If I was to make a music video in this genre, this video would give me lots of ideas on conventions of this genre. I could take ideas from this video to incorporate in my own. 

History of Music Video.

A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. Modern music videos were made

• As a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings
• To allow artists to become instantly recognizable by the general public
• To allow the listener to relate to and understand the music
• To allow the listener to interpret the music visually, allowing a large group of listeners to respond to the same visual ideas, and to articulate their own feelings towards the music
• To put imagery to music

We think of the music video as being a fairly modern invention, but in fact it had its beginnings as early as 1895.

In 1895, Thomas Edison combined his talents with William Dickson to produce the kinetophone with sound from the phonograph. The first picture showed a man playing a violin while two men danced. 

The project was fraught with difficulties and little more was done for several years.

It was in the 1920s that the first motion pictures were made that were accompanied by sound.

Oskar Fischinger, a German-American, was an abstract animator and filmmaker. He worked in the 1920s to produce abstract musical animation, a long time before the advent of music videos as we now know them. He produced videos accompanied by musical scores known then as visual music.

In 1925 Max Fleischer, an animation artist, introduced a series of cartoons where the audience were invited to sing along by following the bouncing ball which hopped over the lyrics.

From 1929 onwards, Walt Disney produced the ‘silly symphonies’, which were a series of short animated films made around specific songs from Warner Brother’s films.

The phrase ‘music video’ was first used in 1959 by a singer/songwriter called Jiles Perry Richardson, who had the nickname Big Bopper. He used it when he was talking on an interview for a magazine.

In 1960 the Scopitone was invented. This was a type of jukebox with a 16mm film included. They showed ‘soundies’ which were three minute musical films. They were coin operated and were the forerunner of music videos as we know them.

Bob Dylan produced a two and a half minute film clip of ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ in 1965. This is often considered to be the forerunner of modern music videos. It shows Dylan standing in an alley shuffling cue cards.

It was however the Beatles who really laid the foundations for the modern music video. They used the power of film to promote their records and show themselves as artists. They made a series of promotional films specifically designed to be broadcast by TV companies throughout the world. Their films were made in black and white and later on in colour, and they included films of ‘We Can Work It Out’, ‘Day Tripper’, ‘Help’ and ‘I feel Fine’.  Throughout their career the Beatles continued to develop the music video. Their videos of ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ and ‘Penny Lane’ included many new techniques such as reversed filming, using dramatic lighting and unusual camera angles. The songs are illustrated in a very creative and imaginative way using rhythmic editing.

This led the way for many bands of the 60s and the 70s to follow their lead, and they produced increasingly sophisticated promotional films to promote their music. A flood of new film makers came out of art school, and music videos became a serious medium. Videos began to use very experimental and surreal ideas. One ground breaking video in terms of content was ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (the first ever music video to ever be aired) by Queen in 1975. Another was David Bowie with ‘Life on Mars’.

It was TV that really brought about the era of the music video. Australian shows such as Countdown and sounds did a great deal to popularise music videos. Music videos became a very real part of music TV shows like Top of the Pops and 6:5 specials.

By 1980 it was standard practice to produce a video to accompany a new single. Ground breaking videos include Devo ‘The Truth about Devolution’ and David Bowie ‘Ashes to Ashes’.

This paved the way for the launch of MTV in 1981 which aired The Buggles ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ its first music video. As a result of MTV many pop stars were shot into prominence. An example would be Madonna ‘Material Girl’. This very much contains the narrative of the music. Big budget music videos came into being such as ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson. This is one of the most iconic music videos of all time and lasted for 14 minutes. Other pop stars producing big budget videos were George Michael and Duran Duran. Michael Jacksons’ budget for ‘Scream’ hit was $7,000,000.

In 1985 Dire Straits used computer animation in their music video of ‘Money For Nothing’.

In recent years the internet has become the place to air music videos and TV has taken a back seat. Many artists have promoted themselves through YouTube, Myspace and ITunes. Lily Allen is a famous artist established via the internet. Vevo, a music video website, was launched in 2009.

Cheap technology has also made it increasingly possible to create a music video on a very low budget.

Each genre of music video has particular characteristics associated with it

Heavy Metal

Often include close ups of stage performances of the band. The band is often portrayed in an angry, emotional way, drawing the viewer in to the video.

Often include close ups of the instruments of each member of the band

Very little link between lyrics and visuals

Often set in night clubs to connote a heavy dance influence. The shots include a lot of fast movements, moshing and a lot of emotion. The movements are often harsh and violent connoting anger.

Editing is often fast and frantic and frequently changes shots. This indicates the energy of the music. There is a lot of use of fast cuts and pans, often showing the target audience of teenage angst based crowds. The music is aimed at rebellious teenagers, particularly pubescent teenage boys, trying to rebel and possibly feeling self destructive.

Shots often include the fans waving, stage diving, moshing which replicates a live performance and draws the viewer in to the experience.

• There is a lot of shouted lyrics
• The lyrics are often sad
• There is often a rather creepy atmosphere

Hip hop / Rap

Rap or hip hop music is believed to originate from African / American inner city street culture. It is usually spoken rather than sung. The words are spoken against a background of music. Hip hop has very complex rhyming lyrics. It is rapid and slangy. It often deals with the hardships of inner city life. 

Lots of low angle, close up shots of the artist. This connotes power over the audience and shows how they can look down on the audience

Full frame shots show the importance of the artist over the audience. These close up shots help to establish them as artists. The viewer will remember them and they give the artist power. Often the shots are of the artist on a television screen which gives them a star quality. The videos are very much to promote the artist and give him status and reputation.

Male hip hop artists often have beautiful women standing adoringly at his side. This shows his status and sex appeal. There is a sense of desire.

The women are often shown as meaningless and inferior and are often cast aside. They are portrayed as an object of lust and men are shown to have the real power

Crowd are often shown dancing and waving their arms in time to the beat of the music. This shows how they are absorbed into the song and gives both the song and the artist real status. It emphasises the message that we are meant to party, get drunk and have a good time.

The costume of the artist is often sporty, often connected with basketball.  This shows strength and a sporty prowess. There are often scenes of workouts in the gym

There are often many shots of expensive cars and jewellery. This connotes wealth and status.

It is a very male dominated genre. The male artist is often depicted with other gangs to show power and status as part of a group

Narrative is not a big thing in hip hop videos but there are often specific links between the lyrics and a particular item which is shown as an image in the video.

There is a real element of voyeurism as there are many shots of beautiful girls scantily clad. This keeps the attention of males watching the video.

Rock

The video often centres on the performance of the band who are dressed in dark clothing, often leather trousers and tight tops. A typical rock look incorporates long hair on the male rock stars. There are lots of close ups of the band and the instruments they are playing

Hardly any link between visual and lyrics as it focuses on the band

Lyrics often speak of insane behaviour of people and shots often show crowds possibly with guns

Editing is in time with the beat of the music


Many videos have commanded a massive budget.  These are some of the most expensive videos ever made.

Michael Jackson / Janet Jackson – Scream - $7,000,000 - 1995

Madonna – Die Another Day - $6,100,000 - 2002

Madonna – Express Yourself - $5,000,000 - 1989

Madonna – Bedtime Story - $5,000,000 - 1995

Michael Jackson – Black or White - $4,000,000 - 1991

Guns N’ Roses – Estranged - $4,000,000 - 1993

Puff Daddy – Victory - $2,700,000 - 1998

MC Hammer – Too Legit to Quit - $2,500,000 - 1991

Mariah Carey – Heartbreaker - $2,500,000 – 1999

Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Ayumi Hamasaki, Madonna, Britney Spears all feature heavily in the list of artists making the most expensive videos, as do Kanye West, Busta Rhymes, Mylene Farmer, Guns N’ Roses and MC Hammer.

Most Popular Music Videos from Each Decade

1960s The Beatles – Help! 

The video would help to engage the audience and draw them closer to the band members who at the time were idolized. Also this was one of the first music videos ever to be aired so would immediately fascinate the viewer and introduce them to the genre.

1970s Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

This song was popular in the 1970s as it was one of the most expensive every made and has been named as an elaborate recording due to its mix between guitar solo and ballad segment with no chorus.

1980s Michael Jackson - Bad / Thriller

Thriller was voted the most influential pop music video as it had combined both filmmaking and music, and was voted as the most successful music video ever made.

1990s Britney Spears – Baby One More Time

This has become a pop classic, and shows her dancing in her high school uniform. It displays her prominently as the artist. It was a very influential video and was voted best music video of the 90s.

 2000s Beyoncé – Single Ladies

The attraction of this video is that it is very simplistic and incorporates some of the best choreography of the decade. It also speaks out to the younger generations and creates an idol/role model.

Most watched music videos

• ·         PSY - Gangnam Style
• ·         Justin Beiber-Baby
• ·         Jennifer Lopez-On the Floor
• ·         Eminem-love the way you are
• ·         6 LMFAO Part Rock Anthems
• ·         PSY-Gentleman
• ·         Shakira-Waka Waka
• ·         Miley Cyrus-Wrecking Ball
• ·         Lady Gaga-Bad Romance
• ·         Michael Telo-Ai Se Eu Te Pego
• ·         Carly Rae Tepson-Call me Maybe
• ·         Don Omar-Danza Kudoro
• ·         Macklemore + Ryan Lewis-Thrift shop
• ·         One Direction-What make you beautiful
• ·         Eminem-Not Afraid
• ·         Gotye-somebody that i used to know
• ·         Katy Perry-Roar
• ·         Adele-Rolling in The Deep
• ·         Bruno Mars-The Lazy song
• ·         Pitbull-Rain over Me
• ·         Katy Perry-Firework
• ·         Rhianna-Diuamonds
• ·         The Gummy Bear song
• ·         Justin Beiber-Never Say Never
• ·         Ylvis-the fox
• ·         Nicki Minaj-Super Bass
• ·         Bruno Mars-Just the way you are
• ·         Miley Cyrus-We Can’t Stop

Purpose of Music Videos

There are many reasons why music videos are made. The chief reason is to sell the song, and in doing so to make money for the artist and the record company. It also allows the listener to more fully understand the song and relate to the lyrics in a more personal manner. It helps to promote the artist. It is also simply to entertain.



1.      A music video helps understand what the lyrics of the song mean.

It allows us to

·         Understand the chorus and verses of the song

·         Identify the main voice of the song, the voice of her artist

·         Recognise and relate this voice to the star

·         To understand the story the artist is trying to tell us in the song

·         To establish the artist as the storyteller.


2.      A music video helps us to establish a relationship between the song and the visuals on the video.

·         Music videos use certain images and shots to explain the meaning of the song and the genre

·         Sometimes the meaning of the song is completely ignored in the music – disjuncture

·         Sometimes images and camera shots are repeated in the music video – this is amplifying the messages they are portraying and fixing them into the audience’s head

3.      A music video can promote the narrative and performance of the song.

·         A music video can promote a song by the way it analyses the lyrics

·         A character often does what it says in the lyrics e.g. if the lyrics say jump, the star jumps

·         There are three main types of music video

Performance based video – the artist or band is performing the song throughout the majority of the video.

Narrative based video – the video tells a story linked to the lyrical contents of the song

• Conceptual based video – based around a particular concept or idea

    4.   Technical aspects of a video

·         The artist is the main character acting out the role

·         It makes the song realistic

·         The audience connects with the song

·         Holds video together through the Mise- en -scene, special effects, sound, editing

·         The lighting / colour sets the mood and emphasises certain parts of the song. It also creates a dramatic effect to thrill the audience

·         Beats of the song create cuts to go with the rhythm of the song

5.      Star Image

·         Vital aspect of the video

·         Brings the unique style of the video using such things as costumes, moves, appearance

·         Promotes the artist in the public eye

·         Enhances their reputation

·         The video will allow the star to get their message across with more power

6.      To sell the music

·         If a song is accompanied by a video, the audience for that song will be greatly increased, as not only can it be heard on radio and such sites as itunes, it can also be seen on sites such as YouTube and Vimeo, thereby reaching a much bigger audience and potentially selling more and making more money.

7.      To encourage controversy

·         Often lyrics in a song can include controversial elements, such as homosexuality, but it is difficult for people to directly understand

·         A video can make this much more explicit.

·         People will begin to talk about it and discuss it, and the profile of the singer and the record will increase which will earn more money in sales.

8.      To entertain

·         A music video is for entertainment and many people get immense pleasure from watching a music video

9.      To make a social or political point

·         This is more common for solo artists or artists who produce independent videos
They can include messages to try to change the world.

When I am creating my own music video, I will need to consider the genre of the video and what I want to achieve by producing it. The point of the video will depend on the chosen genre.