In what ways are the traditional aspects of the hip hop genre broken or remade in the music video for 99 problems?

There are many traditional aspects of the hip-hop music video genre.  The location tends to be a party, a club or some sort of fancy location as the focus of these types of videos is to amplify the status, reputation and wealth. There are many things which contribute to showing these things. The use of alcohol is shown to portray expensive taste and to make viewers think they can spend money on anything they want.  The use of recognised brands and clothing to show the wealth are effective because they show that they are able to buy expensive clothing. Also the camera shots tend to be long and establishing to show the money involved. Close-ups to show the jewellery and assets of the artists are effective because these materialistic things dominate the video and show what is important in the video. Also the use of attractive women intrigues the audience to make people want to watch the video. However the men dominate while women dance irrelevantly in the video and the women are shown as objects which are not a good representation of females and could have possibly caused controversy amongst women. It I could also connote that these types of music videos are not necessarily for the viewings of females as it could be deemed sexist.

The use of hats and sporting attire are effective as it shows the age of the video and it possibly represents the artist being highly active. The mise-en-scene in the video is usually, expensive cars, expensive houses, money and jewellery which are again to portray the wealth of the artist and to show that they have money and are able to buy anything that they want. The videos don’t usually follow a storyline, only the genre and the artists are frequently involved. The use of low angled close-ups is effective because it shows the performer having status over their audiences. Some audiences may find this dehumanising however; this was the categorical generic for the hip hop music videos.  The songs also had specific meaning or moral and the videos mostly contributed to the explanation of what these words meant. However in some cases they didn’t correspond and were only used to show the wealth and reputation of the artist.

In the music video ‘99 problems’ by Jay Z, Mark Romanek broke down all these conventions and the video was totally different view on hip-hop music videos and gave viewers a new perspective. First of all the movie was different as it was in black and white which gave the video a retro look and made the audience feel they were looking back at the past. It was very effective in letting the audience know that they were viewing past events and it made the readers feel they were watching a true story. As the video continued the lighting got darker and darker which could represent that the deeper you get into this place of their lives the darker it gets. With a fast cutting rate, the extensive city is shown at the beginning of the video to set the scene, letting the audience know what they watching about and give them a feel of what the atmosphere is like there.

The first time we see the artist in the song we see Jay Z in the generic low angled close up which again suggests power over the audience which is something remade in the video. We also see a fast cutting rate of many different males and they don’t seem to be showing off any sort of brands, cars or jewellery but are more looking oppressed and lonely. This sort of approach would have had more of an effect on the viewers as it would have brought sympathy for viewers and would make more people intrigued by the stories behind the people. The use of close ups on the different shops, posters and road names are effective because it gives the impression that the artist needs help in their direction and possibly suggests that they worry about taking the wrong direction in life. Also the houses are not shown to be expensive and there isn’t extensive showing of expensive and branded things showing the video to be down to earth and to show that the video is not there to put on a front but more to reveal reality and truth.

The use of showing blocks of flats in the mise-en-scene is effective as it shows the lifestyle of the people who live here. There were many close ups showing what the people do in these situations and shows the beauty of what goes on in these areas such as the strong dancing and the people trying to make a statement. We also see the close-ups of different people’s lives which were effective because it shows the struggle on their faces and all these elements are different to the normal videos as they never showed what it was like and only ever showed what they described to be the good life. Also in this video the main focus wasn’t dominating men showing women to be objects and so women would feel more represented and respected in this video, therefore widening the target audience. There was still use of hats and baggy clothing though however not so much of sporting attire. More so the video shows the actual sport of basketball showing a diverse side to where they live, a place where they dance, place sports and are surrounded by music. The video does follow a storyline and shows a journey through this block and shows what it’s like where they live. I felt that the use of extreme close ups on parts of the body such as eyes and feet were effective as they weren’t the usual long shots to represent wealth and reputation but more to show the struggle and oppression brought by living in poor conditions. Also in this video there is a lot of death represented and connotations of Jesus, this is definitely different as it has a holy element which the normal videos did not hold. In conclusion I think that the 99 problems video was a contrast to the generic conventions of hip-hop music videos.