Abrahams Comprehensive Textual Analysis of Similar Music Video's

50 cent-P.I.M.P

The first music video I will be analysing is 50 cent’s X-rated video which is known as P.I.M.P which means P-Person I-Into M-Marketing P-Prostitutes. There are certain props they used in this video which enable the audience to recognise that the men in the video are Pimp. I.E. 50 cents walking stick which he calls his magic stick this is a tradition object which a pimp has. They also have flashy cars which are also used in the video to signify their wealth of maybe being a pimp. Another prop which I think give extremely strong impression to the audience that these men are pimps was a dog lead which was connected to two female, now I think that they put this into the music video because they want to make the audience know that they refer to female as bitches which is a female dog and obviously dog have leads and collars which is what these females also had.

50 cent was dressed in all white, he had a white vest and trousers and he wore his jewellery in a way for everyone to notice I think he wanted to look like this because he wanted to show his wealth. Later on in the video we notice that there are other pimps but these pimps are traditionally dressed because they were all in colour suits with a top hat with a feather on it. This is the way a traditional or stereotyped pimp would dress because they are often looking ‘slick and sharp’. On the other hand the outfits for the girls in the video were the total opposite they were either in their bra and knickers or just in knickers. I think they done this because they are showing us that they are just used for the body and by them hardly wearing and clothes it prove it.

All the rappers in the videos body language seem to be confident in the camera maybe this was to represent that they have a bold role. If they were not rapping then they would be touching the girls in the video so this shows us again that they just use them for their body (for sex). On the other hand the female body language were the total opposite it looked like they were submissive to the men because they were like slaves to them especially when they are following 50 cent around and dressing and undressing him. But they also had a smile on their face like to mean that they enjoy being these pimps slaves.

When the video starts we see a panning shot of 50 cent going up and down so we establish that he is the main character in the video so we would know when he is talking about being a pimp he is referring to himself. We then see a close up of the iPod so again we realise that it is his song and it is called PIMP. A panning shot of three topless females who surround 50 cent occurs this also adds on to the understanding that 50 cent is a pimp because pimps often have more than 1 female for themselves and 50 cent has three at this point of time.

A medium shot of 50 cent occurs and then the girls follow him like slaves this represent that he plays the master role as he is the controlling one in the group.

We the visualize a close up of a flashy care which 50 cent gets out of and the doors close inwards like a double cupboard this also represents his wealth as this is the sort of car that wealthy people would own. Later on we then see a bird’s eye view shot behind 50 cent and we see that he is in a room which other pimps so we establish that these other men are also pimps. While they are in the room a pimp mentions certain things that 50 cent doesn’t own but yet he is still a pimp and we then see close ups of certain pimps faces as they are in shock this is to tell the audience that these things are the sort of things that traditional pimps own.

When Snoop Dogg begins to rap we notice a close up of a girl saying ‘we love you snoop Dogg’ this is done to show us that Snoop Dogg is also a pimp and he controls them and makes them fall in love with him. Later on we visualise an over the shoulder shot of a woman holding two leads which are connected to two females. This is done to represent that these girls are ‘bitches’ which is a pimp terminology for a woman.

When 50 cent shows the pimp his magic stick it glows and a transition begin which takes the scene to next dimension with diamonds and 3 men in init then Snoop Dogg begin his rap back in the house. This scene is representing that his magic stick is very powerful as it can do usual ‘magic’ things.

When snoop Dogg is rapping we notice that we see him raise his hand to the camera 3 times as he says ‘my pimp hand is way strong’ then we see his finger point to a girl he is dancing with. This is done to show his aggression toward his female so we know that pimps abuse their women if they disobey or behave in a wrong way.

The theme of this song is that the men are P.I.M.P’s, P-Person I-Into M-Marketing P-Prostitutes and they just illustrate that they are wealthy and have the females that they can do anything they want to them. The females are represented as slaves in this video as they do everything for and to the men in the video even if they like it or not. While the men are represented as wealthy sex addicts.

Aphex Twins- Window licker

The next video I will analyze is Aphex twins song called window licker. There are certain props that are used to signify the wealth between the males in the video. The reason why I say this is because in beginning we see two men in a low rider car which is a standard car for an American but on the other hand we see a another car which is a limo but not an ordinary limo the limo is very long in length it almost as if it should be called a super limo. This definitely shows us that the guy in the limo is wealthy and the two men might be middle class. Another prop which is used is an umbrella which in the video is used as a dancing tool and sometimes it is put between the man’s legs maybe to represent his penis so we know that sex is on his mind when he is dancing for the two women.

The man who comes out of the limo is dressed in all white as he is in a white shirt and white trousers. One of the two men is in a black shirt and grey trousers while the other was in a white vest and black trousers. This is also to represents the wealth of the men because the two men are dress normally while the man who owns the limo is dressed smartly. The girls are also dressed in white but in white shirts and knickers.

As the limo door opens and the man comes out of the limo we see a reaction shot of the girls faces as they looked shots as they are turned on by the man. This is done to show the effect this man has on the ladies. The camera then zooms in on him as he begins dancing and the reaction shot process keeps on occurring. While this is occurring the video cuts to the beat.

We then notice him dancing with an umbrella. When he opens it a medium shot of these ladies occurs as they have now transformed into the man as they have his face in their bodies. This is done to show us that the man has taken control of them and that they are now his as they have been possessed by him. The scene then cuts to the ladies and the man inside the limo and we see a variety of shots displaying them touching each other while the video it cut to the beat.

We then see a slow motion panning shot of the ladies shaking their buttocks while he sprays champagne on them. This is done to represent that he doesn’t have respect for them he just wants them for their bodies.

This song is very different to other songs as there are no lyrics at all. The only words we hear are when the two men are talking to the ladies. The theme of the song is the white man is almost ‘God like’ as he can control women without saying a word. Like 50 cents video pimp the female are represented as slaves as they let this man do whatever he wants to them without any questions asked. Whilst again like 50 cents video pimp the males are represent ad sex addicts and the man who owns the limo is also wealthy. 50 cents title of his song pimps relates to the video image as we see what a pimp owns i.e. females and wealth but on the other hand the Aphex twin song title window licker doesn’t relate to the video image.

Eve-Who’s that girl

Genre

The genre of this video is hip-hop as it has a hip hop/rap beat in the song and the lyrics are hip-hop based. This video follows the usual stereotypes of a normal hip hop video as it has some the main conventions as a regular hip hop video which would be the regular clubbing scene, rich and flashy jewellery, expensive vehicles in the video it is the red motor bike and the flashy house.

Narrative

The narrative of this video is very simple as the song and music video is based on the artist, her money and how she gets her money. For example in the video at 2:52 the artist says “won’t starve today song after song I write till I get paid”. We can see she is in love with her career as she gets enough money from it and she informs us that she is living and coping nicely from it.

Issues of representation

I wouldn’t say that there is an issue of representation in this video. I say this because the video challenges the representations of a normally hip-hop artist. Regular hip-hop artist are usually male but in this case the artist is a female and this already definitely challenges this representation. She does everything in the video you would expect a male artist to do in a hip-hop video expect it is done by a female.

Audience

The targeted audience for this song would be teenagers and young adults. I say this because these are the regular age group that listen to hip-hop. If I was to go in depth for the specific target audience for this music video it would be targeted at teenaged females because the artist is proving to the world that females can do everything a male can do as rapping is known to be a male hobby whereas this artist has challenged this and made it her hobby and has been successful from it and she prove to everyone that it is possible as she has done it.

Media Language

The message behind the song is that this female artist ‘Eve’ is obviously a girl (female) but she still is ‘gangsta’ which is an individual who is discreet, known’s how to get money, power and respect from others whether its is legal or illegal. She uses the tiger to show she has no fear as most individuals would be scared to get as close as she is to a real tiger. I personally find this funny because it is true because there are many males that would come close to this animal but yet this female artist has it in her house as a pet.