Rap Music Videos

Rap Music Video's Timeline

Montell Jordan- This Is How We Do It: 1994

The music video starts within a street with a batch of people where black and dancing however after about 2 seconds the camera quickly cuts to a male kissing a women. All the characters within the music video are black, this is because rap stereotypically is for the 'street gang' look which is stereotypically  given to the black ethnicity. There are quite of few cross convergences with rap and R'n'B, themes such as partying, night club and getting drunk. A scene is shown between a olive skinned female and a black male, he is looking her up and down with sexual gestures such as biting the lip. There are more clips within Rap in terms of dance and its more hip dance than sexual dances however there are still low angles where the mise-en-scene is females bottom. There are a lot of shot reverse shots from Montell lent against a wall in a leather jacket with sun glasses to give him the 'cool' look, and a party. The course isn't intense rap, this is when the dancing clips become more frequent. There's not a story line within this music video however there are elements of different locations where a story line could have been created. One of these being Montell and other characters sat round a poker table with a cigar. The lyrics within this poker section talking about money and he is shown talking to several different girls, therefore suggesting the girls are gold diggers and he is trying to get the girls by flirting with them and boosting up his ego by talking about his money.

The dancing shows all the characters in the music video working as one in a gang, which gives the impression that they are controlling and as a group quite powerful. The 'gang' join in the sing a line in the course 'this is how we do it' to give the impression that 'we' are the gang of people, the build up in vocals within the course keeps the song going and the beat more exciting. Throughout the music video live performance is consistent just in different locations. There are continuous shot reverse shots with the poker scene and the gang dancing to foreshadow the life he lives, the relaxed gang social life as well the fame and fortune. When the beat changes when the location changes to a club/ party so show the social aspect of the rapper life. It appears that he is still playing poker at the party therefore showing the audience that no matter what happens to him he's happy with life and poker is a fun game. A lot of furniture is used throughout the music video which makes it the relaxed chill atmosphere. The end of the music video he is rapping to a women on the sofa, this suggests that he has made his chose on who he wants.

Missy Elliott- Work It: 2002
This music video is sung by a female rapper which isn't very common, even today rap is very male dominated and therefore making the female artists stand out. One of the first female artists was Missy Elliott. Her song 'Work It' commences with her being a DJ within a bee hive and bee's flying round her, despite this being very abstract this shows her confidence and how brave she is, her impression was always make the female gender look as brave and confident as the males, this is why she is sat with bee's. Her costume is very baggy and is almost dressed the same as the male dancers, she is shown dancing in a run down park, the movements are very similar to a hip hop style, these movements being very robotic and isolated. She's the centre of the dancing with 2 males each side of her, this is to show that she can dance the same as them and still be a female and have the control. The next location looks as if it is in the basement of a shop of some sort.
The checked floor creates the dance battle atmosphere, and the hip hop dancing continues. The music video doesn't tell a story as such however there are references to the words such as when she said 'give me all ya numbers' she has several phones being held to her head. In the checked floor location has two elements to it, hip hop dancing from either Missy or a small group of boy dancers and Missy singing live. The editing technique of black and white is used a few times which makes the gang effect quite strong. There are several shot reverse shots, mid-shots of her singing on the checked floor and the old park, this is to show the difference between her dancing outside and inside. One location is set in a hair dressers, this is to renforce the female gender, a row of females with long hair are having their hair cut whilst Missy raps along side them, this shows that despite Missy acting and dressing like the stereotypical guy, she still is a female. The editing effect of different coloured filters are used to represent the genders mixing. the following scene shows Missy on a date, the lyrics rap about illusions which change the view of someone, which
foreshadows the fact that everyone see's Missy as this male looking female but actually when she wants to can make the effort to look like a female. The her whole image changes as we starts dancing with females with their bottoms out and rapping about 'if the boy can handle her' which is completely sexist and subverts everything she said before hand. One character who stands out in tis is a little white female dancer, she suggests that she is copying Missy and wants to become like her so this idea of freedom is pasted down through generations.

How Low- Ludacris: 2010

The message of this video is a lot more sexual than the pervious videos. The music video commences with two girls twerking and body rippling in front of a mirror. This is a massive stereotype as girls are stereotypically known to dance in mirrors with their friends practising moves which they can use to attract the opposite sex. The video is a home made video, so the composition looks as if someone is watching back an old home video. The special effect of Ludacris' face glowing on the mirror raping looks as if he is watching the girls as if the boys were looking at them in a club. The shots change to the beat. There are elements in this first clip where you see a mid-shot of Ludacris, its here the lights are flashing to the beat and he is wearing a white top which looks like a blue lit top due to the UV lighting which is used. He is dressed like a stereotypical black male with chains and sun 

glasses, very similar to the first video. He then, with other female and male dancers come out of the mirror and start rapping to the very confused girls. He to is dancing however his style of dancing is more hip-hop and tutting with the hands rather than full body movements. Gangsters then jump out of the mirror which scare away the girl. The storyline at the beginning showed what the lyrics were about however now its become which abstract and almost a little bit like a thriller film. Ludacris steps out the mirror for a second time however he is covered in lighting strikes and electricity to show he has lots of energy and power to do what ever he wants. When rapping directly to the camera he usually crosses his arms quite a lot, this gives he impression that he's trying to look tough and wants control over what he is looking at as well as making the audience feel slightly intimidated.
The camera work is quite jittery and moves with the beat to jump only slightly forward to the movement. The effect of illusion in the mirror is recreated when Ludacris looks into the mirror and see's girls dancing, this shows that the mirror is a reflection of his dreams and they could never happen. On certain words the image freezes this is to pause the frame before it does a shot reverse shot to either the UV light or looking into the mirrors. Ludacris' power rips the girls clothes of in the course, despite this going against their own will they start dancing in a sexual way using dance movements such as dropping their bums to the floor then jumping back up. This music video is more sex based unlike the other videos however it still follows the conventions of a rap music video because the singer isn't white and he is dressed in chains and glasses.

The Night Is Still Young- Nicki Minaj:2015

Nicki Minaj is a massive female icon with the rap genre as she doesn't care what people think and is very outgoing in her music videos. Nicki always dress' in the longest nails with the brightest of colours, the tight clothing she wears shows her boobs and bum which despite being both fake are really large and is a male gaze. Her hair and make-up is always well done and she definitely adheres the stereotypes of a women. Her music video commences with shots between her singing live in a mutli-coloured stripped room with doll looking dancers and a teen flat with a female who appears to have done a work out. The dancing which is shown from the doll looking dancers is very robotic and controlling, this type of abstracted composition shows people you can do and be anything you want which is a strong message to portray. Another location within the music video is a locations where teenagers are playing music and joking about, looking a little bit like hippies. 

Hippies vibes are relaxed and cool therefore creating a relaxed atmosphere despite the heavy beat. Nicki sings as well as rap within this music video so elements of hip hop combine with rap which seems to be a common hybrid which is recurring more often especially with singles which feature another singer. Images of the moon are shown however the moon has a special effect on them which makes it look as if the moon is growing or making some sort of sign. The second verse is very pink as its set in a sushi place however everything is pink to emphases the female gender. The moon is very big with different electric colours crossing it, this attracts the teenagers which is a stereotype as they are  always interested in new and different things.
This is then followed lots of different poses of Nicki to make her look flattering, she is wearing a black dress which crosses over the boobs, her hair and make-up is well done and the green lighting brings out her eyes. Nicki follows the conventions within rap however her image isn't follow the rap convention as she is very girl. The location of the teenagers scene is set in a busy city which is suggested to be New York which is a massive population of teenagers.

Over the years the image of rap hasn't really changed however with different sounds of hybrid music being introduced artist's are singing with featuring acts or having a slightly different sound to keep their audience going strong.