Textual Analysis Of - Hate It Or Love It - The Game ft 50 Cent

Released- March 15, 2005
Song - Hate it or love it ft 50 Cent
Signed to - Aftermath/G-Unit
Name - Jayceon Terrell Taylor and Curtis Jackson

The Games Hate it or love it song has one real distinctive narrative which we can draw upon from the video itself and the images which it is showing the audience. The clear narrative from the video is that The Game and 50 Cent are rapping about there childhood and where they grew up trying to give the audience an insight into how there life was before they became rappers and what they had to do in order to survive. We can also tell they are rapping about there childhood by when 50cent says 'lets take em back' showing that he wants us to see his lifestyle before we know him as the rapper that he is today.We also get an idea that the rappers are talking about there past for the fact that in some of the shots the video is in black and white and these combined with the lyrics give a real insight to the lifestyle which they used to live and the areas they used to live in The Game(Compton) 50 (Queens).

The video Hate it or love it uses many stereotypical conventions of a rap video. For example the mise en scene throughout the video we see the consistent appearance of gang symbols and colours (red bandanna's) being worn especially by The Game. This is in order to show the audience where he came from and also it projects a dangerous image in order to show he isnt the sort of person to mess about with. Also the fact The Game has alot of tattoos on show also helps to reinforce this stereotype of being a proper rapper. Another stereotypical feature or a rap video which we see is the use of jewellery. On various diffrent occasions we see 50cent wearing a diamond encrusted cross which would suggest his fame also we see 50 and the Game both wearing expensive watches again the video is contrasting from the childhood to when they've grown up and how there lifestyles have changed from what they used to be. Also we see alot of transport being shown for example the private jet and the mercedes benz these are again typical features of a rap video as it allows the rappers to show there wealth which is what alot of rap videos are about showing the audience the lifestyle that they are living and what they came from.

However the video does also have some go against some of the stereotypes of a typical rap video aswell. For example in most rap videos you wouldnt see the rappers mum being shown in the video and also the use of little kids to show the story of how they grew up makes it seem more like a short video than an actual music video because it shows diffrent stages of their lives which you dont usually see in a music video however it creates the effect which makes you sympathise with their lifestyle before they became rappers. However these feautres allow the music video to be sucessful as it allows the audience to be able to use the video to compare to a hard time they've had in their life before therefore it captures the audiences attention which is the main aim of a music video.

Textual analysis of my hump - Black Eyed Peas

Released - November 14th 2005
Song- My Humps
Signed to - Ruthless records

Black eyed peas My hump has one distinctive narrative which we can mainly gather from the lyrics this being that the men are fighting over the women (fergie) and trying to buy her lots of nice gifts which we gather from the use of the mise-en-scene eg louis vuitton bags and the nice braclets that fergie is wearing this combined with the lyrics she uses eg 'they buy me all these ice's' clear reference to the men buying her gifts in order to impress her. This also hints at the lifestyle which they are now living because for in order for the men to be able to buy fergie all these gifts they must have alot of money and this is again reflected in the mise-en-scene with the cars that are shown.

The My Humps music video uses many stereotypical features of a hip-hop music video. For example the mise-en-scene we see alot of jewellery,expensive clothing,cars this is typical of a hip-hop video. Also the mise-en-scene is used in order to capture the attention of the audience.For example the represntation of woemn from the mise-en-scene which fergie is wearing is aiming towards capturing male attention and feeding the male gaze. Feminists would argue that this is helping to prove the music video to be patriarchal as fergie is dressing provocativly in order to try and please men however there are alternative readings in to her provocative dressing. An exmaple would be post feminists they would argue that she is dressing like that for herself and because she wants to also they would combine the lyrics that she says for example ' i keep saying no but they keep giving' as to show that she in fact has control over the men and not the other way around as they keep buying her stuff not the other way around.The target audience to the My humps video is likely to be 16+ and men due to the use of the male gaze which is implemented through out the whole of the music video.

The music video itself doesnt go against any stereotypical conventions. However the lyrics with in the song itself do convey some challenging of stereotypical conventions. For example in most hip- hop videos you wouldnt hear men talking about how they are always buying a women something as they want to portray that women chase them because of the lifestyle they have. However in this hip-hop video willam and taboo are talking about how fergie got them spending all there money on her which in a way goes against the stereotypical theme. Also some of the mise-en-scene is unstereotypical for example the location where the video has been shot it looks like an empty room. This is not typical of a hip-hop video as it is usually shot outside with alot going on in the background for example at a beach or on a street. This is another way in which the black eyed peas have managed to go against a stereotypical convention.

Textual Analysis of If We Ever Meet Again - Timberland Ft Katy Perry

Released - February 15Th 2010
Song - If we ever meet again
Artists - Timberland Ft Katy Perry
Record Label - Blackground/Universal

The song If we ever meet again has one clear narrative throughout the whole of the music video itself this being about jewellery robbers stealing paintings/jewellery throughout the video. I am able to tell this from the mise-en-scene used which is the TV which shows a picture of a suspected robber and then a man who takes a women's necklace at the end of the video we see that it is the couple working together to commit the crimes.

The music video has some stereotypical features for example the ways in which the mise-en-scene is used for example although this is more of a pop tune they still use alot of expensive jewelery such as diamonds and emeralds. This would suggest they are very sucessful as they have these items in their music video showing they can afford. Also the continous use of suits and expensive dresses would also suggest that they are rich as they can afford continous changes of expensive clothing. Which can portray people in the music video as to being a bit flashy and a bit of a show off. Feminists would argue that the music video is very stereotypical for the fact that we see the artist Katy Perry in a very provocative outfit dancing next to a male this would suggest male domination the feminists would argue. However post-feminists would argue that although she is dressed provocatively she has empowered herself as she is dancing next to the male and although she is dressed provocatively he cannot have her therefore making her in control of the situation.

However the music video does have quite a few ways in which it goes against the typical stereotype.For example the fact that the music video is more like a short film in the way in which it is telling a clear story and the narrative is also very clear and also the people throughout the video are assigned proper characters making it seem more like a short film rather than a music video.Another way in which this music video goes against the stereotypes is the location where it is set. For example most music videos/hip-hop music videos are not usually shot in an Art gallery which is an unusual place to set a hip-hop music video.However it helps to maintain the fact that the two artists in the actual video itself have money therefore they are in an art gallery dressed smartly in order to portray there wealth and make themselves look respectable.