Star Theory!

Most musicians nowadays, are not only known through their music. Through many other forms of media, an artist is treated as a marketable brand over a long period of time. Their face becomes well known and is used as an advertising tool.

Richard Dyer says that these musicians or 'Stars' are constructed and artificial. The Usp's which are a part of the image can be copied and parodied, as the person becomes associated with the image, and are virtually unrecognisable without them. The stars are made to appeal to audiences which will then generate more money for the record company. An example of this is the young boy bands who are manufactured to cater to the new generation of 7-12 year olds that come around every 4 or 5 years.

Outside of music, the 'stars will represent certain cultural attitudes and promote certain ideologies, and the more interested the audience, the more it enhances there 'star quality'. Stars will start out as ordinary people, and then become constructed figures. They act as representations as to what people should look like and aspire to be. However, there image is constantly assessed, and for it to maintain the same effect they have on most people, their image had to change with each album.

Kendrick Lamar

As we are choosing one of Kendrick Lamar's songs for our main text, it's important to look at him in terms of how the star theory can apply to him. Music videos are a way to express oneself, and someone who has a lead singer persona would be essential in an advertisement music video. However we want to go with a more abstract/cinematic video, something which is common in rap video's more so nowadays. Kendrick Lamar doesn't create a celebrity image in the same as other mainstream rappers do, so in our video we think it isn't essential to do so.