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.