Researching the Rap Genre.

Genre is definable in a number of ways. As a way of categorising texts, a way of defining codes and conventions for a category of a text and a way of setting up audience expectation. There are other definitions of the category and it's a dynamic concept, one which changes over time in a different cultural contexts.

John Fiske, a known genre theorist, describes genres as 'attempts to structure some order into the wide range of texts and meanings that circulate in our culture  for the convenience of both prodcuers and audiences'

With the genre of rap, it first gained popularity in the U.S. in the 1970s as a kind of street art, particularly among African American teenagers. One of the first rap tracks to gain notoriety was in 1979, when Sugarhill Gang released their breakaway hit, ‘Rapper’s Delight. Once they did, numerous rap acts, including Run-DMC and N.W.A., surfaced, and the genre gained more exposure and popularity. It wasn’t just African American male rappers getting in on the act, either: By the 1980s, white rap bands such as the Beastie Boys and female rap bands such as Salt-n-Pepa were reaching the top of the charts as well.

By the 1990s, rap matured from an old-school-style – which was based o­n relatively simple lyrics – to a new-school-style, which was louder and included more complex lyrics. Artists such as The Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg and Tupac ruled the charts during this time, as did Eminem – o­ne of the most popular white rappers of all time.

Rap is part of the Hip Hop genre, and the style is prominent in a multitude of genre's, including soul, dance, pop and rock music. Rap came up in the American society among the black urban youth. It started as a way to criticise the ideology of the American society, and especially the authority and powers that are present in the society. Much of the rap music are arguments against institutions. Often, it contains cultural contradictions that are against the dominant ideology.

Most common ideological discourses in rap are politics, race, gender and sexuality. Even though there is a whole ideology behind rap music, unfortunately the commercialization of it moves this ideology to the background.

With time, the way music has changed is from live instruments into studio made beats. In the beginning, the 'music' was made with live bands, with influences from soul and dance music. As technology has advanced, the genre has moved into more club and dance influences, with music being made with Mixing decks and music software, often utilising samples from actual instruments or anything they can find.

Some audiences, are with the rapper through grass roots connections, for example the same area so they rap about things relatable to the listener. Through codes and conventions, a new fan can pretty much no what to expect with someone in the rap genre, with perhaps one thing subverting normal expectations of the genre, thus making them stand out.

Initial ideas for my practical work.

The song my group and I are creating a video for is for the song "Swimming Pools" by Kendrick Lamar.

There were many reasons for choosing this music video to recreate. One being that Kendrick Lamar is a well known artist so we believe that people will take an interest in the video before they've even seen it. 

Another reason is the subject matter. The verses are about the negatives of excessive drinking, however it has become a popular song at parties. My group believe that this mixed message would be a good idea for a video. We were thinking of shooting the music video at a party where people would be having fun but also could be susceptible to excessive drinking would illustrate this message effectively.

Also, the group and I think that the concept of drinking is interesting and we believe that we can incorporate many different things in our video as it's such a big concept to cover. It allows us to stick to a mixed narrative, allowing us to incorporate even more ideas with what we want in the video.

One thing we want to distance ourselves from in terms of comparison is having a rapper in the video. In Kendrick Lamar's video, he is heavily featured as it's his video. As we don't have Kendrick, we don't want to have someone replicate him in the video. We'll have a character who'll be the main focus, just so there's a story to be followed which is connected to a person, but we won't have a rapper. The star theory helped us with this decision, as we felt there was no brand or image we wanted to endorse.

Main Ideas

These were some brief ideas that we discussed and we would like to include in our video.

Quirky face paint
Close ups on face
Switching between emotions
Editing that matches the beat
Slow motion burning
Food colouring in water

We were thinking of having it set at a party, with the focus on one person who is drinking excessively. Showing how bad this can be, this will be the message we're conveying through the video.

Roles in the group
Charlie Adams - Cinematographer and Director
Aidan Emberton - Print Media Editor and Director 
Dan Grayer (Me) - Video Editor and Director

We chose the roles best suited to our skill sets. We're all going to direct the music video, as we all have ideas of what we want to see in the video.

Linking back to my music labels post, I think that if my group were to choose from the labels that I researched, I think we'd choose Warner Brothers for our video. I believe we would choose this because they are a big mainstream label, and the rap genre in today's society is generally received well by a large majority. By choosing an artist with a genre that is popular with a high majority of people, it would help both parties. It would give the artist and video exposure to a bigger audience and it would make the label money. 

Representation & how useful it really is!

If you want to convey a lot of information about a character or a social group, the best way of doing so is through representations. However representations of groups can often stereotypes.


Anything involving a group can be stereotyped, to make them more identifiable in the media. Here are some stereotypes/ ways that stereotypes can be created-

• Age - all teenagers love rock and roll, have no respect and do drugs and alcohol.
• Gender- all women like housework
• Nationality- all Germans are Nazis
• Places - It always Rains in England

A stereotype is simplistic and doesn't allow for complexity or depth, sometimes there'll be absolutely no truth in the stereotype. 

To give myself a challenge, instead of doing a conventional rap video, i've chosen something completely different.

To explain representation, I'm have chosen Weird Al Yankovic's Parody rap song "White and nerdy" Based off of Chamillionaire's song "Riding Dirty".

Firstly, the social group of Nerds and Geeks are being represented, more specifically those who are white, as the song title goes. The Video and song in my opinion is wholly positive, there are no sub texts or hidden meanings there to cause offence, it's just a comedic songs used for comedic purposes, with Weird Al playing this 'White and nerdy' character and using common traits and things associated with a nerd or geek. It could be argued that it's poking fun at the overly masculine rappers that Hip Hop seem to spawn, with a song about the total opposite of what most rappers would be like.

The Representation of these social groups are constructed primarily through the lyrics, and with visual accompaniments. Mise en scene is the biggest element helping with constructing, mainly through props and costume and theme's that our prevalent amongst people who fit into the 'White and nerdy' Category. Here are some examples of how a 'White and nerdy' person through this video can be identified, with the lyric in quote marks.

Being very good at math. "I know Pie to a thousand places"

Participating in games of chess. "and even the chess team"

Collecting Superhero figurines. "All of my action figures are cherry"

Knowing computer code and a made up Sci Fi language. "I'm fluent in Javascript as well as Klingon"

With the editing, it's very conventional to a rap video, as it flows with lyrics, and cuts at the end of the lyric, to keep up with the flow of the music.

In terms of a Rap Parody an audience would expect all of this. This is because they want to be entertained and also connect to the rap portion of the song.

The Ideologies that are suggested, as explained is what 'White and nerdy' People are like. Another is the Ideology that this group of people and the culture of rap should not mix, this is evident as the chorus features lyrics about Weird al wanting to associate with the 'Gangsters' but he can't because of how 'white and nerdy' he is. 

Levi Strauss's theory of Binary opposites is heavily abundant in the video. With the two contrasting groups of Rappers and Geeks as the main premise of the video. However, towards the end, the two blend together, in these two pictures they show a blend.

The two men look like they are doing a shady drug deal, where in actual fact, Al pays for a Star Wars Dvd, a popular franchise in nerd culture.

Weird Al gets refused to play bowling with the 'Gangsters' and is directed to the 'nerds' instead. The blending is that the two groups are in the same place doing the same thing, whereas outside of the bowling alley
they wouldn't be near eachother

The representation isn't typical to the genre, as is the point of the song, which states how nerds can't associate with rappers, because of how nerdy they are. In most respects, it is a fair representation, but is one to not take seriously and is for the basis of comedy, as both groups are quite diverse with the definitions of 'Nerd' and 'Gangster'. In terms of a rap video, it's subversive in it's representation, but the genre itself, it's common as it matches the lyrics being said.

Typical Codes and Conventions of a rap video.

Hip Hop is currently one of the most popular types of genre's around in society. With this popularity comes a certain 'Image' that is followed by fans of the genre and makers of the genre. One of the main ways these are shown is through music videos. Now these will in some way or another follow certain idea's and the majority in some way will have similar features among them, however some do subvert the normal expectations of what is expected in a rap video.

In my opinion, here are some common elements of a rap video.

1. If the rapper is male, he'll most likely be surrounded by females, to show how dominant and powerful he is.
2. To show power and also wealth, the video will be heavy with mise en scene elements, such as expensive clothing, expensive cars, jewellery and in a basic way to reinforce the idea, stacks of money.
3. They'll most likely be surrounded by a large crowd or 'posse' as it's also referred to. This is once again to show dominance and power and raises his status, showing he's not an outcast as he has a lot of friends, or to a lesser extent people who want to associate with him.
4. The general message will most likely involve drugs or alcohol or sex, as it expresses a care free life, where they can indulge in multiple pleasures without any consequences.

Women in rap video's who aren't the rappers themselves, will most likely be, like with most media products, objects of desire. Especially with a power dominant genre like Hip Hop, the idea of how good you are with a woman then shows how dominant one person can be. Women who are doing the rapping will want to emulate the power that male rappers show in their video's, so the same elements will be present in a female rappers video also.

50 Cent's "In da club" shows these elements from a male perspective.

Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" shows these elements from a female persepctive, with a clever use of sexualising the male backing characters.

The Codes and Conventions of Music videos!

Music videos have been accompanying singles for almost 40 years. They act as a visual aid to compliment the song. Like with any media product, it will have codes and conventions that for the most part are used in most single's. However, like anything with codes and conventions, a music video specific to a genre can subvert certain conventions normally associated with a single of that genre, and also not used at all. A music video can technically feature anything (within moral reason).

There are around 3 types of music videos that exist today, they are

1. The performance (The band or artist will perform their song)
2. The Narrative ( Music video following a story line, can be linear or fragmented)
3. Mixture of previous two, combining both.

With artists or bands signed to a mainstream label, they will have a bigger budget for the music video, but they label will have more of a say as to what the music video will feature, as they're the ones marketing the band/artist.

In my opinion, here are common things prevalent in music video's of artists with a mainstream label.

• With a solo act, any video they are in will have maximum coverage of them, the camera will be on them 90% of the time and elements of mise en scene such as costume and make up will be important in showing them off, they'll be bright and bold to show off the artist as much as possible
• The setting will always be showed off with an Els. Most likely to be an extravagant location, giving off the 'perfect life' ideal that a viewer would like to have, and they can also see the artist enjoying it
• Unfortunately with female acts, they're more likely to be sexualised. This gives them attention from both genders. Females will be awestruck of them and could also be envious of their looks, whereas straight males will see them as an object of desire, based off of the cleverly used Mise en scene elements of costume, make up and facial expressions.
• In some way or another, there'll be product placement in the music video, as a subliminal message for the viewer that the product on display is a must have

Cheryl cole's music video for her single, Call my name, in my opinion features all of these examples.

With pop bands, they'll be marketed to the same extent as solo artists, but with different techniques. One common technique is giving them titles, for example the spice girls had "Sporty" "Ginger "Scary" "Baby" and "Posh" spice. By giving them different titles, they can appeal to a wider audience of people, as there's a high chance that they can relate to one of them, based on name alone. Another example is with boy bands, they'll most likely feature a hot one or a goofy one, or one that doesn't get as much attention. With boy bands especially, they'll appeal to a largely young female audience, as they are objects of desire to them. These personalities will be on display in the music video's.

One Direction's You don't know you're beautiful shows off the points I make about Boy bands.

Independent labels are one's which largely feature bands, and with music video's they'll be lower budgeted but you can tell the band has had more involvement and the music video's always are more imaginative then most mainstream artists video's. They tend to be more passionate and humorous or whatever the band desires. Most music video's with bands, much like solo artists will have a mixture of narrative or performance, but they won't be trying to market or show off the band, it will act more as a visual accompaniment to the song.

Here is The Pixies 'Here comes your man' which aside from being one of my favourite songs, features an imaginative performance music video.

However not all mainstream signed bands will have music video's to show off the band or lack imagination. It can also play to the type of music the band plays.

Here is Weezer's song Undone.

Here is Mcflys 5 colour's in her hair.

Both signed to major labels but with different types of video's, this show's how genre can change the way a video can go with a song. The first video, by alternative rock band Weezer, is very low budget and artistically shot, with not one cut in the whole video. The band played to a sped up version of the song, so when the footage was slowed down to match the original pace of the song, the band members looked slow yet were in time with the music. Directed by famed movie director Spike Jonze, we can see the artistic flair in the video, and we also see something different to the normal performance video, because as the song goes on, the less they mime their instruments.

However with Mcfly's song, the video acts very much as something to show them off. The lead single off their first album, the pop rock band's label had to show them off so they gained a lot of exposure very quickly, a clear feature of wanting them to gain exposure is by featuring their names in the video. This is so anyone watching who is a fan can quickly attach themselves to a certain member.

In my opinion, Music video's should be what the artist wants them to be. I think a label can give them financial backing but shouldn't have direct control as to what the video is about.

Narrative Theory: What is it?

Most Music video's have some sort of narrative, that's a given. I decided to research the idea of a 'narrative' and what it means in regards to music video's. 

Andrew Goodwin, a noted media theorist, believed that an artist in music video has to be involved in the music video, this is important as it makes it look authentic. This can be achieved through performing or acting as the main character or through singing or miming to the song.

Goodwins theory states that there are 5 key aspects which are featured in most music videos, these are-

• Thought through beat, which is seeing what the lyrics mean in the viewers head
• Relationships between the song and visuals
• Narrative and performance of the song
• Technical aspect of a Music video
• Star image (the performer or band) and how they're the centre of attention

Another theorist, Jean-Francois Lyotard, was against looking at narratives in a piece of artwork/media as one big narrative (a meta narrative). He suggested that the traditional ways of thinking about narrative, such as Todorov's equilibrium theory are flawed. He argued that narrative is becoming increasingly fragmented, and that these become stories within stories (micro narratives).

With regards to music video's and artists signed to major labels, ultimately it's up to them how they are represented, especially with solo acts, it helps to market them. With Independent labels, the artists themselves have more control of how they are seen on camera through music videos.

For researching this theory, I decided to find what I considered a very mainstream artist with a mainstream video, one which had been popular within the past year, to show a representation what they are like currently and also what an average person listens to and watches. I chose Katy Perry's Roar.

Whilst looking at the music video for Katie Perry's 'Roar' I can see how it conforms to Goodwin's theory. The whole video is focused on her and what she does. Also by her singing along to the track she is investing herself into her song, by visually performing to the viewer. By having the onomatopoeic word 'Roar' and having animals in her video, she can cleverly work the two together to give the song more power, by connecting the word to the animal, which could be part of the message she is putting across.

For one of the other music videos I analysed, Like toy soldiers by Eminem, in my opinion definitely conforms to Goodwin's theory as he raps along to it, and the story arc follows Eminem and how the rap war has affected him directly, making the audience connect with him as we can visually get an idea of what he thinks of it.