Similar Text Research - Video Analysis

Jay-Z & Mr. Hudson – Young Forever



Young Forever is a song produced by Jay-Z and Mr. Hudson who are both popular artists in the hip hop genre. The music video begins with no music, but instead a montage cutting to three different sequences. The scenes at the beginning represent the lives of three young people, and try to illustrate the name and meaning of the song ‘Young Forever’. The three scenes are shown once from a long shot, and then again using close up shots in turn to exaggerate the youth of the people in the video. The boy running and a boy playing basketball at the beginning of the clip emphasises his freedom, and expresses how good life is as a youth.

The video frequently cuts to shots that were taken of fans at a concert emphasising the star image and iconography of the both of the artists. The camera pans and tracks through the audience slowly so viewers can see the thousands of dedicated fans on screen. The music does not officially start playing until at least one minute into the video. There are also various close up shots of the artists emphasising their importance.

Jay-Z is an artist known for filming his music videos in the same black and white style. By doing so, they are easily recognisable as his, and emphasize the authenticity of the music video. Jay-Z wears sunglasses throughout the whole music video, creating his own star image. This is something often seen in typical hip-hop music videos as there will be connotations of wealth and power, which sunglasses may suggest. Even more so, when the video cuts to scenes of performance at his own concerts, the crowds are shown doing the Freemason sign, which is something else symbolic he is known for. Many people argue that he is part of the Freemason cult.

Throughout the video, performance shots, close-up of artists, clips of a concert, and people in their youth are continually filmed as a montage dissolving into one another to illustrate the speed of the music and amplifying the lyrics. Each cut coincides with the beat of the music.