Analysis of two hip hop music videos

Rihanna - We found loveEminem - Not afraid

Emily Cherry.

Not afraid is a song by American rapper Eminem taken from Recovery which is the name of his seventh studio album. Eminem’s genre is hip hop.We found love is a song recorded by Barbadian singer taken from Talk that talk which is her sixth studio album. Rihanna’s genre ranges from R&B, pop, reggae, hip hop and dance-pop.

ConventionsEminem - Not afraid:Most of Hip Hop videos use close up shots to show their jewelry however Eminem uses them differently. Close up shots are useful for establishing the artist, it also establishes the power or importance of the artist because they take up a lot of the frame. By using eye contact Eminem is trying to get his message across that he is ‘not afraid’. Dr Dre helped launch Eminem’s career so he features in many of his music videos, in the ‘Not afraid’ music video Dr Dre beat headphones was featured on a big billboard. Some artists have running themes throughout their songs, Eminem’s songs have a recurring theme of mental health, this is what he reflects in his videos.

Rihanna - We found loveDrugs are usually shown in Hip Hop music videos to get across that they take them and they have money for them. This video is a narrative telling a story of a relationship between male and female showing the rough times and the good times also. The lyrics link into the music video by telling a narrative. Locations in a Hip Hop music video usually tend to be at a party, or a fancy location. A scene in this video was her and her ‘boyfriend’ dancing together in a muddy field having fun. Alcohol may have been used and drugs may have also.

Camera workMusic videos tend to include long shots, close ups and mid shots. This is to mainly create emphasis on the artist, location and emotions. Emotions can be shown my using close up shots however it can also be used to reflect the words of the song with the movement of the lips of the artist. Eminem - Not afraidEminem used a lot of close ups in this video as the song is about him and how he needs to change. He said “I’m standing up, I’mma face my demons, I’m manning up, I’mma hold my ground” he is saying it’s time to man up and take control of his life instead of letting the music industry or anyone else control his life anymore.Mid shots are used to show the artist in more detail and to also show the setting, this setting shows Eminem’s reflection telling the audience he is trying to get away from his fears and is trying to find himself. The camera is at a high angle to show that he is not as significant and by the end of the music video he finally finds himself. By showing this a low angle is used to make him look more important. Rihanna - We found loveRihanna also used a lot of close up shots to portray her emotions within her relationship.Long shot was used at the end of the video mainly to show the location they were in, how-ever it shows that the male is still in a rough place whilst Rihanna is packing her stuff up to show she has moved on.The pace of the camera is fast portraying the relationship and how they may of took things too quickly.

EditingEminem - Not afraidIn this video the pace is quite fast, it cuts from one shot to the others as we can see from the screenshots above, this reflects his anger and his beliefs as the lyrics are linked with his video. A lot of scenes shown shows Eminem looking over New York city watching the world go by and looking how far he has come as he grew up from a rural estate to earning millions. Rihanna - We found loveJust like Eminem’s video hers is fast pace and switches from one person to another, this may reflect their relationship by saying them two went too fast and didn’t take it slow. Constantly throughout the video there were flashbacks showing all the fun memories them two shared together, this portrays that their relationship went bad. A lot of the editing had flashing lights involved including moving images of drugs showing they went through a bad patch. Included in this video is a moving image of a cigarette burning but in rainbow so the colours are multi coloured, this represents a psychedelic environment which can include fear. A projector is used to show fire portraying to the audience that rihanna has more power now that she has found herself and this can also represent her relationship and how it is deteriorated.

GenreEminem - Not afraidHip hop music is a music genre that consists of rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping. Eminem’s music videos portray the characteristics of this. Unlike other hip hop videos this one is contrasted against them as others show their wealth, cars and money whilst this one showed Eminem trying to find himself which actually links in with the lyrics of the song. The title of the song ‘Not Afraid’ also links in with this as it shows how much he has grown and has turned his life around.

Rihanna - We found loveRihanna’s genre ranges from various genres such as R&B, pop and even hip hop etc. The music video shows the relationship between two people and how it went from good to bad with her walking out on him. Rihanna’s choice of clothing compliments the song as she wore new styles that are modern but also mixing them in with shoes such as creepers which have been around for quite some time.

PerformanceEminem - Not AfraidEminem is the main focus of his music video as the song links in with the music video showing his struggles and how much it took for him to be the man he is today. There is a scene where Eminem walks past a mirror where he looks at his reflection and carries on walking, this again is another connection to the song title as it represents he is finally a stronger and confident male than what he used to be. By the end of this video Eminem jumps of a huge crack in the middle of a broken road but somehow starts flying back up almost portraying himself as a superhero, to me this makes me realise he is a very powerful man with strong lyrics that mean something to him. The broken road also tells me that he once was broken and he took the wrong path but now he has finally found himself and has turned everything around. His performance in the music video was very courageous and it adds more worth to the video and song.Rihanna - We found loveRihanna was one of the main characters in this music video along with the male pretending to be her boyfriend, this performance was a narrative as the video includes shots of the relationship and what they done together. Negative and positive scenes were shown making the audience realise what the meaning of the song actually is, the lyrics and the song link together really well as the main section of the chorus is ‘we found love in a hopeless place’, this portrays that they fell for one another at a vulnerable time to help each other get through which is why drugs were a main convention in the video.

Eminem - Not AfraidIn the music video Eminem walks down the street on his own whilst everyone is walking around him or past him, other locations are when he is overlooking the city or is a rural place where things seem to be a bit messy which can represent his life and how it was before. The fact that he walks alone suggests he is used to being independent and having no one there to help him. He is wearing dark colours throughout the video to represent the power that he now has and can also symbolize death which can connect to the song title ‘Not afraid’ as he has been through a lot of bad things in his life. He is looking over New York City in a scene which automatically represents him to be more superior as he is looking over his ‘empire’. Rihanna - We found loveVarious scenes shown were flashbacks or of something that is being destroyed, a building was crumbling down to the ground in one of these scenes, this is an easy representation to show the emotions of both characters. When a huge building falls to the ground it’ll take a lot of time to recover and to make the location how it was before. In this video flashbacks are purposely used to tell the audience how much time they spent together and the bonding between them two when they went partying in the field etc. Fire was projected onto the wall where Rihanna was standing also to present how the relationship went up in flames and how them two kept arguing which made everything steam up to the point where Rihanna left which was by the end of the video. The music video represents a lot of emotions such as anger, confusion, sadness and even frustration.

Representation

InstitutionsEminem - Not AfraidEminem is signed to Aftermath Entertainment which is founded by Dr Dre, this why Dr Dre is promoted within Eminem’s music videos discreetly. The distributor of this is Interscope records which was founded in 1990. The main genres of this is hip hop, rock and pop. This song is from the album Recovery written by Marshal Mathers himself, Matthew samuels, Luis Resto, Jordan Evans and Matthew Burnett.

Rihanna - We found loveRihanna is signed to Def Jam which is an american record label that is focused on hip hop and urban music which is owned by Universal Music Group, it was founded in 1983. The song was written by Calvin Harris who features in the song, the genre is electro house and the song is from her album Talk that Talk.

Values and IdeologyEminem - Not AfraidI believe the objective of this music video was to show the audience that if you grow up in a bad area or have experienced something traumatizing like being bullied or even worse then they can always get out of that place to become who they want to be. Eminem himself grew up in an area where it was dangerous where he was being pressured and bullied, if you look at him now he has sold millions of copies and has earned millions as well. This song represents everything about him and represents how strong and independent he is. He can relate to the audience with this song as well especially if the audience is or has been through the same experience.

Rihanna - We found loveThe whole video is about two people who fell in love in a ‘hopeless place’ with the use of drugs, alcohol and partying. The whole purpose of this video is to show how teenagers fall in ‘love’ too quickly and things happen too fast, it also shows that even though some things are great at a point in time they can always change into something that is really bad.