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Song: Alright
Artist: Kendrick Lamar
Genre: Hip-Hop/ Contemporary R&B
'Alright' is in my opinion an incredible music video and is one of my favourites. The whole concept of the music video is that there are a lot of bad things happening all over the world, but Kendrick and his music can help to heal and make things better or at least easier to cope with.
This is shown by Kendrick, the protagonist who is seen flying through the sky like superman, acting as a superhero to anyone affected by what's going on in the world, showing people that it's going to be 'Alright' where there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (Goodwin)
The whole music video is shot in black and white which I think is very effective in creating a powerful, emotive short story.
This is a 6:54 music video which includes a prelude. At the beginning of the video, before the music starts, there are clips setting the scene, showing the neighbourhood with skid marks on the road - suggesting there have been car races in the neighbourhood. There are also clips of buildings, graffiti, a black male lying on the floor, helicopters, police, a car up in flames, and things being smashes which all foreshadow a music video about violence and gangs and all the bad things happening in the neighbourhood which are things stereotypically seen in an R&B/ Hip-Hop music video (Goodwin)
We see a gun being fired and then a close up of Kendrick Lamar in a car with his friends listening to music, the camera zooms out and we see that they are actually being carried by four white police officers, this is ironic because white police officers have killed a lot of black people and haven't 'carried them' at all.
We then see Kendrick flying through the sky acting like super hero along with lots of different shots of different locations, suggesting that he's flying in all of these locations. The clips of Kendrick flying have obviously been filmed in a green screen room and then edited into the clips in post-production. The music video is a bit of a special effects extravaganza with Kendrick Lamar flying through the sky (Gow) and is also a performance narrative which helps us to understand that the song is about racism and police brutality. (Lynch)
We also see people in these different locations looking up at Kendrick Lamar smiling to show that him and his music have influenced people.
The ending of the music video is quite controversial because the protagonist that has repeatedly been singing "we 'gon be alright", gets shot. Whilst Kendrick is stood on top of a street light, a white police officer arrives in a police car and pulls out an incredibly big gun, but 'shoots' Kendrick with his fingers whilst mouthing 'POW'. We hear a shot, and see a bullet penetrate Kendrick who's still stood on top of the street light. He falls in slow motion whilst repeating the lyrics from the start of the song. He then hits the floor and the audience thinks he's dead, but he opens his eyes and smiles, letting the audience know that he's alright which plays on the lyrics "we 'gon be alright"
The overall music video and the lyrics "and we hate po-po, wanna kill us down in the streets for sure" clearly address racism in a unique and expressive way, whilst also being positive about the situation showing that if we all unite and come together, we're going to be alright.
Blue Lights - Jorja Smith
Genre - Contemporary R&B
The first thing we see in this music video is young children drawing a chalk outline of a body which is a very striking first image. It sets the scene for the music video and shows us that the music video is about police brutality and racism. We also see extreme close ups of Jorja Smith singing, and of her mixed race features which combine her white and black roots. This music video is clearly a performance/ narrative piece.
There is a direct relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (Goodwin). When we hear the lyrics "Don't you run when you hear the sirens coming" we see someone running and we also see strobe lights throughout the music video which links to the lyrics "I wanna turn those blue lights into strobe lights"
All of the clips are quite short and blend into eachother very well, something that would have been edited in post-production. These short snappy clips contrast strongly with the mellow music and highlight how quickly it can all change and your life can be taken by the police with a single gunshot.
This music video breaks some codes and conventions of Contemporary R&B because it's all shot in such a dark light, with strobe lights which are traditionally seen in rave music videos.
Song: Formation
Artist: Beyonce
Genre: Bounce/ Southern Hip-Hop
(Bounce music is an energetic style of New Orleans Hip-Hop music which is said to have originated in the 1980's
Beyonce used her status to not only discuss issues in America, but to thoroughly explore them.
The music video release was perfectly timed during Black History Month, and it explores issues of Police Brutality, unrealistic beauty standards for the black community and many many other issues affecting ethnic minorities.
Black culture is a beautiful thing, yet we are repeatedly being murdered on our streets by people in power, racially targeted, abused and mistreated, constantly having to remind the world that yes, all lives do matter, but 'all lives' include black lives too.
In a world where myself, as a young girl, experienced racial abuse for my big lips and black features, I now watch these features and characteristics made into a 'trend', these features and characteristics are now culturally appropriated by an ethnic majority. It's now considered sexy and beautiful to have big lips and black features and people go to drastic lengths to achieve this look, so it is beautifully refreshing to see Beyonce in this music video with her natural big lips and naturally black features, unapologetically making her statement and taking a stand.
There are also references to black culture such as the three young girls (including Beyonce's daughter Blue Ivy Carter) dancing together with their natural black hair, and then the three older women in a hair shop all wearing weave or wigs. I interpret this to be symbolising the unrealistic Eastern European beauty standards that black women face, with the three older girls feeling as though they have to wear wigs to appear more 'white' and to hide the beautiful 'black' hair that the three young girls are embracing as they are too little to know about the unrealistic beauty standards they'll face when they grow up
'Alright' is in my opinion an incredible music video and is one of my favourites. The whole concept of the music video is that there are a lot of bad things happening all over the world, but Kendrick and his music can help to heal and make things better or at least easier to cope with.
This is shown by Kendrick, the protagonist who is seen flying through the sky like superman, acting as a superhero to anyone affected by what's going on in the world, showing people that it's going to be 'Alright' where there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (Goodwin)
The whole music video is shot in black and white which I think is very effective in creating a powerful, emotive short story.
This is a 6:54 music video which includes a prelude. At the beginning of the video, before the music starts, there are clips setting the scene, showing the neighbourhood with skid marks on the road - suggesting there have been car races in the neighbourhood. There are also clips of buildings, graffiti, a black male lying on the floor, helicopters, police, a car up in flames, and things being smashes which all foreshadow a music video about violence and gangs and all the bad things happening in the neighbourhood which are things stereotypically seen in an R&B/ Hip-Hop music video (Goodwin)
We see a gun being fired and then a close up of Kendrick Lamar in a car with his friends listening to music, the camera zooms out and we see that they are actually being carried by four white police officers, this is ironic because white police officers have killed a lot of black people and haven't 'carried them' at all.
We then see Kendrick flying through the sky acting like super hero along with lots of different shots of different locations, suggesting that he's flying in all of these locations. The clips of Kendrick flying have obviously been filmed in a green screen room and then edited into the clips in post-production. The music video is a bit of a special effects extravaganza with Kendrick Lamar flying through the sky (Gow) and is also a performance narrative which helps us to understand that the song is about racism and police brutality. (Lynch)
We also see people in these different locations looking up at Kendrick Lamar smiling to show that him and his music have influenced people.
The ending of the music video is quite controversial because the protagonist that has repeatedly been singing "we 'gon be alright", gets shot. Whilst Kendrick is stood on top of a street light, a white police officer arrives in a police car and pulls out an incredibly big gun, but 'shoots' Kendrick with his fingers whilst mouthing 'POW'. We hear a shot, and see a bullet penetrate Kendrick who's still stood on top of the street light. He falls in slow motion whilst repeating the lyrics from the start of the song. He then hits the floor and the audience thinks he's dead, but he opens his eyes and smiles, letting the audience know that he's alright which plays on the lyrics "we 'gon be alright"
The overall music video and the lyrics "and we hate po-po, wanna kill us down in the streets for sure" clearly address racism in a unique and expressive way, whilst also being positive about the situation showing that if we all unite and come together, we're going to be alright.
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Blue Lights - Jorja Smith
Genre - Contemporary R&B
The first thing we see in this music video is young children drawing a chalk outline of a body which is a very striking first image. It sets the scene for the music video and shows us that the music video is about police brutality and racism. We also see extreme close ups of Jorja Smith singing, and of her mixed race features which combine her white and black roots. This music video is clearly a performance/ narrative piece.
All of the clips are quite short and blend into eachother very well, something that would have been edited in post-production. These short snappy clips contrast strongly with the mellow music and highlight how quickly it can all change and your life can be taken by the police with a single gunshot.
This music video breaks some codes and conventions of Contemporary R&B because it's all shot in such a dark light, with strobe lights which are traditionally seen in rave music videos.
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Artist: Beyonce
Genre: Bounce/ Southern Hip-Hop
(Bounce music is an energetic style of New Orleans Hip-Hop music which is said to have originated in the 1980's
Beyonce used her status to not only discuss issues in America, but to thoroughly explore them.
The music video release was perfectly timed during Black History Month, and it explores issues of Police Brutality, unrealistic beauty standards for the black community and many many other issues affecting ethnic minorities.
Black culture is a beautiful thing, yet we are repeatedly being murdered on our streets by people in power, racially targeted, abused and mistreated, constantly having to remind the world that yes, all lives do matter, but 'all lives' include black lives too.
In a world where myself, as a young girl, experienced racial abuse for my big lips and black features, I now watch these features and characteristics made into a 'trend', these features and characteristics are now culturally appropriated by an ethnic majority. It's now considered sexy and beautiful to have big lips and black features and people go to drastic lengths to achieve this look, so it is beautifully refreshing to see Beyonce in this music video with her natural big lips and naturally black features, unapologetically making her statement and taking a stand.
There are lots of references to police brutality in the music video such as Beyonce on the New Orleans police car in the middle of the New Orleans devastations, and a young boy cycling in his neighbourhood with a police car flashing it's lights. The boy remains cycling on the road as if the police car doesn't surprise or shock him which suggests that this is a regular occurrence in his neighbourhood
One of my favourite parts of this music video is the young boy break dancing in front of the police officers stood in a line. Usually, you'd see police officers in a line during a riot, but seeing the young boy dancing, and then the officers putting their hands up is a beautiful thing as it shows solidarity, but it also has a deeper meaning and references the 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' movement as a lot of black people have died due to police brutality whilst having their hands up in the air to show that they don't have a weapon and are complying, but still get shot because they are black.
I think the subtlety of this is absolutely beautiful and shows that all we want is solidarity and to be equal.
The other reference is to the killing of Trayvon Martin aged 17 who was walking back home after buying some skittles. He was seen by a member of neighbourhood watch who we assume racially profiled him, and shot him dead after an altercation. Trayvon Martin was unarmed, only holding some skittles and a bottle of iced tea, and his killer had a gun. The only thing he did wrong apparently was go out wearing a dark coloured hoodie.
Towards the end of the music video, we see some graffiti on a wall which reads 'stop shooting us' and then Beyonce on the police car which is sinking. This brings the audience back to remembering that this is a real issue, and although we want the solidarity as seen above, we don't have it right now.
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