Music Video CW - Music Genre Research (15/09/14)

Genre research - Hip hop/ Rap

Hip Hop (History, sounds, artists) 

Perhaps one of the most prominent and influential genre's in the music industry, hip hop music is culturally, socially and politically relevant to popular culture. Hip hop music first emerged in the city of New York.  Hip hop music is often synonymous with African american youths and it was during a block party in a Bronx housing estate that saw a mixture of R&B and funk enfuse from the decks of DJ Kool Herc in the 1970's. In the 1980's the genre began to reach new heights with artists such as LL Cool J, African Bambata and Grandmaster Flash. Grandmaster Flash's the message and African Bambata's Planet Funk were recorded in the early 80's and since been indited into Bilboards top 100 songs ever. Both retained culturally important messages about living and growing up in deprived area's and the social contrasts that existed. It was the powerful impact of the message that has seen it ranked as the number 1 hip hop defining track.

The 90's was an age where hip hop music really diversified. Perhaps cited as the greatest period hip hop in the 90's functioned as a voice for the black community in the public sphere in American society especially in the wake of the Rodney King beatings. However the genre had also seen the death of two of hip hops greats Biggie Smalls and 2pac as result of the infamous feud between the established East Coast which saw representation from New York rappers and the West Coast. The gritty sound of New York was pitted against the West Coast and the emergence of gangsta rap. The rise of the West Coast saw dominance from influential artists such as NWA, Snoop Dogg and most notably 2 Pac creating a musical feud. Whilst this was highly publicised by the media and shed in a negative light on the genre. 

It was also in 1994 where a young rapper from the borough of Queens New York by the name of Nas released the infamous Illmatic. Now recognised as the greatest debut album and perhaps the greatest hip hop album of all time it went on to sell more than 60,000 copies upon its release in its first week. The album received critical acclaim for its production and distinct sound of Jazz infused beats that complimented the innovative first person narrative of a young adolescent Nas growing up in the tough environment of Queens bridge New York and his presentation of the social themes in terms of urban poverty, gang rivalry, murder, crime and drugs. Depicting the harsh social realistic life of a young man in the projects was something that was new to the scene with Nas shying away from the bravado and extravagant themes that were personified by his predecessors.It was the release of this album that saw a revival in New York Hip Hop creating what is now known as a East Coast renaissance after shadowing the dominance of the West Coast coupled with the emergence of the Wu Tang Clan following the death of Biggie Smalls. 

Now 20 years on the genre of hip hop as spurned out some of musics greatest names that are still very much prominent in the modern age such as Jay Z, Kayne West, Eminem. and so forth. The climate of hip hop is very different to what it was back in the 90's. In my opinion this is very much down to the commercialisation of hip hop where as in the 90's everything was a lot more fresh and innocent. Despite this however within the different subgenre's exposure to the scene that was created in the 90's with the old school inspired beats of the 90's through artists such as Joey Badass and so on is an example of unprecedented impact and legacy of hip hop in today's society and popular culture.

Hip Hop (Music video)

Characteristics

Hip hop music video conventions are no different to any other genre's. Hip hop music video has changed and evolved since the its emergence in the 1970's. Often music videos associated with the genre refer to hedonistic activities such as recreational drug taking, voyeuristic or sexual images of women to reflect the ideals of power and dominance. Its dependent on the sub genre and the contexts of the track for example characteristics of a performance video for a artist such as Snoop Dogg is the use of customized low riding Chicano cars. To the audience this forms part of the lifestyle and culture of West coast rap and could be used to reflect the type of character the artist is. In hip hop videos the use of setting is also a very important aspect. What does the representations of a video set in a deprived area of Los Angeles such as Compton with the artists mis en scene denoting all black attire, a customized Chicano and gold jewellery with women dancing in revealing clothes connote? In my opinion West coast music videos are a example of social contrasts that personify the extravagant ideals of power through money. 

Hip hop music artists often feature performance videos. In hip hop music videos the use of low angle shots are important in portraying power. For some artists power is the key to respect and often low angles are used to show status and power over the audience. In some cases i.e NWA's 'straight out of Compton' low angle shots are used to represent resistance, injustice and the abuse of power by the police which often young black people in the 90's we're subject to. In over videos such as Eminem's my name is the low angle shot is used to show representation of a white male it a genre that is usually dominated by African American artists. This shows that he's making a statement of intent by breaking the established racial barriers. Low angles are also important in framing the artist in the light of status. In the case of Eminem's my name is the low angle shot denotes a blue sky above. As a white artist this could be purposefully implemented to represent a sky's the limit attitude as he's not fazed by his race perhaps holding him back. 

Andrew Goodwins music video theory characterises the traits of Rap videos and this can be seen in many of rapper 50 Cents videos with the representations of the rich and wealthy lifestyle which many hip hop artists aspire to. Expensive items serve as a component and link the visuals to the representations of the artists lyrics. In 50 cents narrative driven performance a common form of hip hop music video, the video to his track 'candy shop' is a primary example of the ideals of being rich and famous, driving a luxury car, having expensive clothing, a nice house with a model wife. This breaks the conventions and audience expectations regarding a black man who is successful and wealthy. Whilst there are different functions of hip hop videos many of 50 Cents records refer to a new type of black man who can afford sports cars, designer clothes and beautiful women. This seems to be a tendacy of directors such as Jesse Terrero whom delivers exciting and compelling narrative to 50 Cents videos. Take for example Many Men directed by Terrero which connects 50 Cent to his earlier years as a street soldier 'hustling' drugs on the sidewalk of a Queens street corner. The mis en scene is bleak and moody depiticing the harsh reality of survival in a tough envrioment. Many men in contrast to In Da Club for instance represents a 50 Cent who is now successful and who is living the dream that he thought hard to get is a entirely different video portraying mis en scene of success and fame through the connotations of voyeristic images of women in revealing clothing, wades of cash and expensive drinks such as champagne. 

Another important convention of Hip Hop music video is the role of the 'gangsta.' In videos such as Mobb Deeps 'survival of the fittiest' themes of hood status, gangs, drug related violence, homocide, inner city youth growing up and urban degradation is portrayed powerfully by the montage of shots that vary from drugs being cooked and to guns being shot, even the representation of Mobb Deeps t shirts reading hennassy is a motif referring to the what the youth of Queensbridge drank when hanging out in the projects. The sharpness of the instrumental compliments the aggressive lyricism of the group and this raw power and instensity can be resonated through the images that are exposed to the audience in the video. The use of black and white in the video presents criminal activity such as the sale of illegal narcotics as being a normal everyday occurance. Biggie Small's 'hypnotize me' video contrasts distinctly. The narrative is very different almost gloryfying the role of the gangsta and exhileration, rush and responsiblity that comes along with it. Gangsta in this video is personifed in a Scarface esque plot coupled with hollywood styled cinematography featuring car chases, speed boats, white suits and yauchts. 

Whilst I am discussing American hip hop I have failed to talk about the UK scene. As I am representing a London rapper and sound the style of the music is very different. Like the US the same conventions can be seen. Aspirations of leaving the 'hood' through music or 'trapping' (selling drugs). Whilst the music videos in the USA are highly dramatised Uk hip hop is still in its developing stage. The style of music and video is still very raw and in some ways is more conscise to growing up in tough envrioments. Brixton rapper DVS presents his area Brixton with a montage of shots illustrating the daily going ons around the area. He raps in consistency with what the area means to him both the good and the bad side as its bought him both fame and trouble. Grime music is a offshoot of hip hop and implements a fast style of rapping. Music video making youtube accounts such as link up tv, sb tv and grime daily have garnerd popularity for bringing attention to grime artists in just a simple and simplistic format where the rapper has the freedom to just freestyle and spit.

.