Postmodern Music VideoIt’s My Birthday

will.i.am ft. Cody Wise

ProductPlacement

Product Placement

Throughout the video there are product placements related to technology and social media, an area will.i.am is a notoriously big fan of. The video begins with a shot that quite clearly displays the “Vine” logo. This is later dubbed as will.i.am writes on it displaying a sense of self awareness. Both the product placement and the awareness of doing so are qualities of postmodernism. The most dominant piece of product placement is of the Beats audio brand, as both the Beats Pill speaker and Beats headphones are featured at more than one point in the video.

Self Awareness

Self AwarenessThe video displays a sense of self awareness, an element of postmodernism. Fans of will.i.am comment on his love of social media. In the video, this is made comical by having will.i.am take a picture and share it on his iPhone whilst his wife is in labour. Furthermore, the video was the first music video ever to be created using the Vine software (this contributes to the video’s fragmentation), a popular and relatively new social network. Also, will.i.am’s love of technology is brought into the video with the repeated use of his new phone watch (Cody Wise also wears one) and him posing in front of a robot. Another way in which the video presents self awareness is through the subtle addition of will.i.am’s ring which has the will.i.am logo. Lastly, the addition of will.i.am dressed as a preacher in church comments on his early life and background, as he has spoken in interviews about his religious mother and the impact this has had on him as a person and his career.

Exaggerated, Stereotypical Representation

Exaggerated, Stereotypical Representation

Exaggeration of cultural and racial stereotypes are used throughout the music video. For example, the repeated use of cash as a prop (connecting to the lyrics of the song) is stereotypical of the music genre. However, this is included in a light-hearted way to create humour and mock the stereotype rather than to seriously establish genre. This technique is repeated in the stereotype of rap/hip-hop stars with the use of female dancers, a room of pizza and gold neck chains. Racial stereotypes are exaggerated to create humour, particularly when substituting a bouquet of flowers for a handful of Mexican food. Also, Cody Wise dresses in costumes stereotypical of both Mexico and Japan. Again, these stereotypes are not taken seriously, and this is done solely to create humour and for entertainment purposes.

Intertextual References

Intertextual References

There are several intertextual references, a common component of postmodernism. Firstly, the signature lean from the music video to Michael Jackson’s ‘Smooth Criminal’ is recreated by Cody Wise. A reference is made to superman, in which will.i.am wears a similar outfit with the ‘S’ logo replaced by a ‘W’ for will.i.am. Lastly, a biblical reference is made through will.i.am’s costume that he wears during the party scene. All of these references do not link to the lyrics of the song. This contrasts to the rest of the video, as the actions depicted in the video very closely, and sometimes literally, relate to the lyrics of the song.