To what extent are rap/hip-hop music videos, like Kendrick Lamar's "Alright," able to provide political/social commentary and how does this impact upon different audiences?
Angle:
What is the impact of the social commentary within rap music videos, does this empower audiences or simply create controversy and why do rappers feel as though they are the ones who need to voice their political and social views.
Hypothesis:
Rap music videos empower audiences through the ideologies presented by the rapper - it makes music powerful and meaningful rather than fruitless.
Linked Production Piece:
Short film showcasing a school shooting from the shooter's perspective
MIGRAIN:
-media language
- The whole video is shot in black and white and has a very apocalyptic demeanour about it, due to the dark, almost sombre appearing clouds and sky. The monochrome connotes the conflict between black and white lives and perhaps even the corruption within society
- there are low angle shots of the sky, which connotes the atmosphere; this particular image reveals the light area where we see the sun coming through behind the clouds, which may connote how there is hope surrounded by the darkness and the corruption. This apocalyptic sky is complemented with the soundtrack of Lamar's "U," which is the song before "Alright" on his album "To Pimp A Butterfly." The screams from "U" relate to the depressive state the Lamar was in and how he was considering suicide and the fact that this is the soundtrack to accompany this rather dreary and ominous looking sky, forebodes the serious social commentary to be involved within this video and the song and therefore reinforce the idea of this apocalyptic essence
- Young black boy on floor; mise-en-scene here could highlight the stereotypical representation of black males as they conventionally would wear caps or hoods, this could perhaps be used as a shorthand to clearly identify the fact that this boy is African and a youth. This links to Medhurst's representations theory
- Lamar recites "Lucifer was all around me" and the low angle shot of the church then follows. This low angle reveals the height of a church, the importance of religion to Lamar and the forgiveness that needs to be received as the devil is everywhere. In this case perhaps the 'evils of Lucy' which is a line repeated several times through TPAB, are the police force and the fact that the devil is not seen and the evils of him are everywhere could perhaps relate to the idea of the law and the corrupt law
- 3 black youths dancing above a police car, this portrays them as outlaws within society. This shot is revealed during the chorus of the song, "we gon' be alright" and this shows how these teens are rebelling and not caring about the corruption and moving forward
-institutions
- Top Dawg Entertainment is the record label that Kendrick Lamar belongs to, therefore the music video also belongs to the same institution
- TDE is an independent American record label, therefore would not have the same funding as a major record label, however for TDE the artists are seen as more significant and more important as meaningful artists who are more iconic than those that depend on the institution for funding rather than themselves as artists
- Top Dawg owns the institution but Interscope Records distributes the work
- In terms of marketing and distributing Interscope holds the responsibility to advertise, however all creative control is within the hands of Top Dawg and the artists as themselves
- Top Dawg Entertainment has signed a several number of hip-hop artists and singers, within the video we see features from Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q, who are also members of TDE
-genre
- Alternative hip-hop
- The conventions of an alternative hip-hop video are very creative, in terms of the people represented there would be less promiscuity of women and it would perhaps be more meaningful and would highlight social commentary. The major convention in this text is the monochrome colouring throughout, revealing creativity
- major iconography within the clip are the weapons, the gang violence and the riotous teens. The theme of police brutality, deception and discrimination are the major themes throughout the video
- many conventions subverted within the video, for example the main contrast between the conflicted races and the civilians and the police force
- the director of the video Colin Tilley is an award-winning American music video director and therefore would also create critical acclaim within the video
-representations
- young black males are predominantly being represented and white officers in America, more specifically Oakland. The young black males are being represented in a variety of ways, firstly as rebellious and highly defiant by causing destruction being seen starting fires, which reinforces dominant ideologies of young black males being disobedient and involved in gang violence
- subject matter of police brutality has been explicitly represented in this way in order to reveal the severity of the situation and due to the issue being contemporary; a well known case of police brutality in 2014 was Michael Brown
- representation of police officers caused a lot of controversy around the video as young black males are seen dancing on top of police cars, revealing the disobedience against the law enforcement
- Self-representation is clearly identifiable in this video as not only are African-Americans able to identify with the video and the matters but every race, due to the topic being so empathetic and so contemporary. It is a news topic that involves many races and cultures and the police are a represented alternatively to therefore make many people think
-audience
- Lamar's music video is mainly targeted at a younger demographic, presumably the student target market as the hip-hop genre is mainly consumed by the younger, young adult demographic
- In terms of psychographics, the reformers psychographic group would predominantly be the target market for the "Alright" music video, mainly because Kendrick himself seems to fit into the reformer psychographic category as he wants to make a change
- we can make the assumption that the audience watching the video would be fans of Kendrick Lamar or would want to seek enlightenment in terms of music and the social commentary within alternative hip-hop genre
- there are over 57million views on the music video, revealing just how many people have been influenced by this video and have consumed the video
- focus on diversion, in terms of Blumler and Katz's uses and gratifications theory, however this video focuses more so on personal relationships as audiences are able to empathise with the characters within the video
-ideology + values
- TDE's values and ideologies, due to it being an independent record label, all control is with each artist themselves, giving them their own free will to be as creative as they wish to be
- artists complete freedom and allows them to comment socially on whatever they want to comment on
- record label is a very sincere label, which focuses on the hip-hop genre only as the label has only 7 artists signed to it, making it seem like a family rather than just a record label
-narrative
- follows fairly conventional music video conventions, which are creativity and expression. The fast paced editing in the middle and the change of scenes create a very fast paced anthem like song, which complements the sound of the song
- There is a strong narrative throughout the extended video as we see the police officers and the black youths at conflict throughout the video
- here are several groups represented in the video, there are the police force which are explicitly seen as the villains in terms of Propp's stock characters. The hero is of course Kendrick Lamar as we see him flying throughout the whole narrative of the video as we see him as a higher power and one who can soar through this; he is essentially the voice of the video
- The sound is the most important aspect of the video as it is the narrative of the album TPAB, however the video accompanies the song in order to heighten its meaning and its impact, therefore by having this narrative revealing a rather apocalyptic society where social conventions are subverted, it supports the idea of Black Lives Matter and the protest against police brutality and corrupted laws
- audience would be able to empathise with the video and therefore relates to Blumler and Katz uses and gratifications theory of personal relationships as we see deaths and violence
SHEP:
-social
- The Black Lives Matter Campaigns are the main focus of the music video; Jay Z recently released his song Spiritual commenting on the Alton Sterling case; J Cole released Be Free about the Michael Brown case - reveals the social commentary in rap/hip-hop
- The influence of this text - Manchester Protesters chanted this song, showing the influence of this song as a protest song and the fact that Lamar is American shows how much of an influence he has had not only on America but global recognition
- Conservative papers and institutions are against the lyrics within this song saying that Lamar "has done more damage to African-Americans than racism has"
-historical
- NWA was the most acclaimed rap group to actually socially comment through their music and portray alternative and negative views towards the police force
- Slavery was an event that discriminated black people and throughout the history we have seen the change of this and how black people have risen up and we are all seen as equal - when there is a case about the police force discriminating any race this brings about the issues of racial discrimination once again
- Many books focusing on these issues but the difference between a book and music is the voice, the power a song can have because everyone is able to be involved and be part of it - educating the ignorant
-economic
- before corporations took over the hip-hop industry, it all begun as underground music
- There's a huge separation between mainstream rap music being distributed by institutions than there is with underground rap music and rappers like Immortal Technique
- "rappers would view themselves as reporters whose primary vocation was to give the voiceless a form of expression and relay the conditions of ghetto life to the rest of the world"
-political
- Public Enemy pushed political hip-hop to new heights; their music promoted historical revival amongst black youth
- As Akilah Folami explains, "Historically, Hip-hop arose out of the ruins of a post-industrial and ravaged South Bronx, as a form of expression of urban Black and Latino youth, who politicians and the dominant public and political discourse had written off, and, for all intent and purposes, abandoned."
- independent and political rap nowadays is being replaced with thugs and gangsters, therefore having artists like Lamar bringing back the sound of political rap makes a huge influence on the industry today
Issues/Debates
-representation/stereotyping
- The representation of black people and black youths in particular
- The representation of the law enforcement and deception as a whole concept in terms of government and higher powers
- stereotypes being subverted due to alternative hip-hop providing a new sound and a new way of seeing things
- stereotype of rap as a whole and this song in particular conforming to the stereotypes in order to show that it subverts them
-media effects
- the influence that political rap music can have on audiences - Lamar is able to explicitly say that police want black people dead, this would cause a lot of controversy
- Lamar is becoming more acclaimed for his music, therefore the idea of this social commentary could effect an audience positively or negatively
- the effects that previous artists and rap groups have had on the mass media has caused similar speculation and controversy, such as NWA and Public Enemy
-moral panics
- the idea of the youth culture having a voice
- rappers being voices of reason and showing that they are able to socially comment through their music having an influence on young people
- the power that music can have on audiences today
-media technology and the digital revolution
- the impact that new and digital media has had on the music industry is vast, from the impact of new streaming sites such as Soundcloud, Spotify, Deezer and the list continues; these apps and streaming services have allowed new content to be discovered and the ease for users to access this new sound
- Artists can now simply have an album only being able to be streamed on one service, which causes great hype and allows more users on that particular website
- The impact that social media has had is also major due to the fact that followers are able to quickly be notified when artists are releasing new music which creates more hype
-the effect of globalisation on the media
- the hip-hop industry has been effected largely by globalisation as underground rappers have become mainstream rappers who have now become a slave to the media conglomerates becoming a mere product rather than someone fruitful, the whole point of hip-hop is to have that essence that no other music genre is able to commit to - rappers like Immortal Technique have stayed true to their roots and decided to not let people pay to watch him performing live
Theories
-semiotics
- there are many different connotations throughout the video and throughout every aspect - the main being the aspect of the 4 white police officers holding Lamar and 4 black men. It could be read in multiple ways providing alternative connotations
-gender + ethnicity
- this is a main focus of Lamar himself the idea of ethnicity - this could relate to many theorists such as Frantz Fanon's Black Skin, White Mask theory
-marxism + hegemony
- the idea of classes being split and the dichotomy between black people and the law enforcement has been discussed with Lamar's music video and it reveals the dominance of the corrupted law
-audience theories
- the hypodermic needle model, the effect that music has on audiences and the influence that Lamar has through his explicit content - all cases never a direct link to the media text and the crime committed
- uses and gratifications theory
-contemporary media landscape
- the change that this video has made is drastic through the idea of new and digital media it is more accessible for users to become exposed to the content online and content that could potentially effect them positively or negatively - the contemporary new hip-hop alternative genre is able to create and revitalise that old school alternative hip-hop music in a way that is more socially accepted
Media Texts:
Kendrick Lamar - "Alright" extended music video
Other Media Texts:
NWA - F*** the Police
J Cole - Be Free
NWA - Straight Outta Compton
Spike Lee - Malcolm X
Jay Z - Spiritual
TV Documentaries:
Racial Profiling: "Crisis of Distrust: Police and Community in Toronto"
Police Brutality: "No justice, no peace"
Racism in the media: "The Modern Racist Paradigm"
Academic Texts/Books:
Lisa Bloom - Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat It
Dennis Rome - Black Demons: The Media's Depiction of the African American Male Criminal Stereotype
Tricia Rose - Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Music/Culture)
Lakeyta M. Bonnette - Pulse of the People: Political Rap Music and Black Politics
Conrad, Kate, Dixon, Travis, Zhang, Yuanyuan, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media - Controversial Rap Themes, Gender Portrayals and Skin Tone Distortion: A Content Analysis of Rap Music Videos
Internet Links:
CBS News - http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-latest-on-the-alton-sterling-shooting-investigation-baton-rouge/
The Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2016/jul/06/alton-sterling-baton-rouge-police-video
The Hampton Institute - http://www.hamptoninstitution.org/capitalismhiphoppartone.html#.V_GTAfArLIV
The Daily Beast - http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/11/hip-hop-s-history-with-police-brutality-why-we-shouldn-t-romanticize-the-ogs-and-live-in-the-now.html
UPROXX - http://uproxx.com/smokingsection/top-dawg-entertainment-signs-deal-with-interscope-aftermath/
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