Conventions Of Hip-Hop

Now I have chosen a song, I have decided to study Rn B conventions by analysing 3 videos from the genre.




Bartender by Akon is a hip-hop song, and this video has a lot of conventions of hip hop and most of the shots & props used are the ones that would be used in  a typical hip-hop music video.
It starts off with an establishing shot to show a nice, big house and an expensive car driving to it, this signifies wealth. Seconds later, we see a shot of the performer/singer dancing which can be an example of a cut away.
There are close ups of the rims of the car and the rim is the most expensive part of the car so again it connotes wealth. In the video there are lots of shots of stereotypically attractive girls (thin, tanned/exotic) and they are all over the boys, this may show wealth and attraction. The female are represented as sex symbols and the men have power over the women, i do not like this and i would not like this in my video. Majority of the video is filled with girls dancing around and being flirty in skimpy clothing, there are a few boys showed but not as much as the girls.
There are full shots of the singer/performer singing and dancing and also the main attention is on him performing. The boys are all wearing 'bling' which is expensive jewellery and it shows that they are wealthy enough to afford it. There are full close ups of girls when they are all over they boy, they boys are alot fewer than the girls, the only boys in the club are the performers.
There are close ups of girls's faces in the club, it is the same scene but with different shots.



This is another hip-hop song, in this video there is lots of dancing all through, i am not going to have any dancing in my video. The performer is the centre of attention in this song and he has a lot of girls dancing around him in the music video. He is wearing nice clothes throughout the video and he also has a lot of nice looking expensive accessories with him, he has a very trendy phone that we see at the beginning and he also has a lot of nice accessories like his watch and jewellery again this is known as 'bling' which is very flashy. The party is taken place in a nice house this again connotes wealth, also they are popping bottles of expensive champagne. There is a use of slow motion in the video when the girls are dancing to make them look more attractive which keeps the audience more interested. The video shows partying all night and dancing which shows enjoyment. What i don't like about the video is that it was a bit repetitive and it got tiring after a while because the same thing was happening over and over again. The video is simple as he is the performer, he also is in involved in lots of outfit changes which brings attention on the  performer. In the video, everyone looks attractive and it is mainly girls that are in it.



This is another music video that i'm interested in as it is in the genre that my chosen song is in. In this song, it opens with the performer lying down on the floor and it gives off the effect that he has passed out on the ground after getting drunk the night before, this gives a story and a narrative to the video, it is all about partying and having a good time and that is exactly what we see in the video. The performer as a lot of tatoos on his body and it is a convention of hip hop.There are lots of close ups of the performer in the video this is so that the main attention can be on him. The fact that he is in a limousine connotes wealth as he is also with a lot of girls and girls like wealthy boys. The girls are all over the performer and all the girls are all attractive, this is  stereotypical as the girls in the music videos are portrayed as being slim, tanned & good looking. There are different shots used in the party and we know it is a party because of the full house, loud music and the red cups which portray alcohol because the red cups are usually the cups that alcohol is drank out of at house parties. There are close ups of his shoes which are a popular expensive designer which also shows wealth as he is able to afford nice things. The low key lighting (its dark) adds effect to the video and the feel of the song because clubs and parties usually have dark lightning. The use of fades in the video shows time passing on and he keeps partying/having a good time we like this effect and  we want to use fades in our video to show the passing of time over the period where he liked the girl. there is faster editing as the chorus kicks in and the speed of the song picks up and so the video and music become one.