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Music Video Industry - Communications Unit 2

The music industry is a large industry with creates a large amount of popularity through both, television and the Internet. It started with MTV with the first music video being broadcasted Video Killed the Radio Star in 1981, this created a large sense of irony. Some of the most popular music videos have received over 100 million views in only a few months, averaging over a million viewers each day throughout the world, some of the artists that have done this are Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and LMFAO. This however, does not include how many times it is viewed on television. The main problem with television broadcasting music videos is that it is very specific channel wise. Channels usually will only broadcast one type of music (rock, classical, urban, dance and pop) and this makes sub genres a lot harder to come by. For example, Kerrang and Scuzz will mainly show Rock music. The BOX would only show music that has been in a chart position from the last 20 years, limiting alot of music which could be shown. A sub genre has the general concept and idea of a basic genre but it will be altered in a few ways which create different sounds and let it remain in the same genre. With so many music videos being watched and so many being created it provides a large amount of entertainment for the community. The most popular music video on YouTube at the moment is Justin Beiber Baby, with 674,341,975 views. The entire video is also 3:45 long, or 225 seconds. Which means the amount of time spent watching this video accumulates to 4811 years. This just really shows how much time is really spent viewing Music Videos from just this one song example. I have chosen to analyse the videos: Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby, Eminem - Like Toy Soldiers and The Lonely Island - Throw It On the Ground. I chose to analyze these three videos because they are all a part of a sub genre of rap and have all had similar critical views when releasing their music. White rap is a growing sub genre of rap, the rap artists from this genre usually make a mockery of the traditional rap music by making the subjects spoken about seem like a joke or changing the subject spoke about to something sex related or even by breaking into the mainstream of music videos which by itself creates an outsider due to the popularity of most rap in comparison to the white rap artists who actually break into the mainstream media.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rog8ouZepE&list=FLveJkKZUx 93a_N9Fq5c4J2Q&index=13&feature=plpp_video Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby

Vanilla Ice (Van Winkle) was the first in a generation of white rap artists. He was born in Dallas, Texas, U.S. His rise to stardom started in 1990 with his featured song Ice Ice Baby which was the first Hip-Hop single to top the Billboard charts. I was the first white rapper out there. I didn't know where I fitted in. 1 Vanilla Ice found a lot of criticism and praise upon releasing his track Ice Ice Baby. He never really managed to fit in with other rap artists due to being a Caucasian man. It was revolutionary at the time but now it has become more mainstream for Caucasian rappers to be a part of the rap scene. It showed Vanilla Ice wearing expensive jewellery and clothing. One of his first music videos Ice Ice Baby showed a lot of choreography which was never previously used in rap. It was alot different than anything which had been seen before. It showed a lot of things being done in synchronization. For example, at the start of the video there is a gang like group of people leaning against a wall clicking their fingers, Another case of this is with the backup dancers, they seem to be dancing quite happily and almost feminine due to the choreography used. Van Winkle's single "Ice Ice Baby" was the first hip hop single to top the Billboard Charts. 2 Seeing these in a music video that was a very popular hit they seem almost parody like. Another reason that this song could feel a bit parody like is because of some of the lyrics which were written by Vanilla Ice when he was a lot younger. Van Winkle wrote "Ice Ice Baby" at the age of 16, basing its lyrics on a weekend he had with friend and disc jockey D-Shay in South Florida 3 Almost like they are making a mockery of the African American rap artists. I believe this because of the way they dance. The way that African Americans would usually dance would be in a form of breakdancing. So having the backup dancers performing in suits creates quite a diverse counterpart to the image that African American rap artists portray. Vanilla Ice made a large contribution to the rap industry with his music, it also brought rap into the mainstream
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/ nov/03/popandrock.exhibition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla_Ice 3 http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/ nov/03/popandrock.exhibition

because it was such a big hit. More recently, Vanilla Ice performed Ice Ice Baby along with Irish twins Jedward. This has made Vanilla Ice more of a joke to the rap industry because he was a very well heard of music artist from his generation and now he has been known for performing with artists who are also quite similar in their own generation. Ice Ice Baby is a Rap music video, featuring Vanilla Ice. It is quite a conventional video but still has many unconventional properties of the rap genre. It is conventional in the way that it is located in an urban area. It is unconventional in the way that backup dancers are used. The backup dancers are well dressed looking like they have just come from a very formal party. The way they dance also seems to make a mockery of the rap genre by being associated in this video. The genre of rap has changed alot over time, it is alot more accessible to other people now and is often a part of the mainstream. Rap also involves alot more Caucasian people now rather than the African American majority which used to own rap. I feel that Ice Ice Baby reflects Vanilla Ice in a negative way. I feel that when this song was released that it shouldnt have been involving backup dancers with happy choreography because it makes a mockery of the genre that it is participating in. Ice Ice Baby meets the expectations of the audience because it has a catchy chorus and that helps the song to be remembered better. I feel that it tries to promote Vanilla Ice by creating him in a very happy atmosphere, he is seen with other people in a ghetto based area and is seen as happy and smiling. The way I do stuff is to go through old records that my brother has. He used to listen to rock 'n' roll and stuff like that. I listened to funk and hip hop because rock wasn't really my era. But having a brother like that, well, I just mixed the two, and he had a copy of 'Under Pressure'. And putting those sounds to hip hop was great. 4 I feel that Ice Ice Baby uses exhibitionism for its narrative, I feel that Vanilla Ice is portrayed as a very handsome man that has everything as he also acts very confident from the way that he sings and stands. I feel that the green screen they used in the video was to make him seem like more important person. This is because when this music video was created Green Screen technology was still quite new to the music video industry. I feel that the narrative was design to reflect Vanilla Ice as a cool individual because he has all of this money and is surrounded by people. I think that it helps attract the audience to the video by featuring alot of happy looking people. I think it has a good impact on the audience because it creates a happy atmosphere. I feel that in Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice is using the African American gangster stereotype, you can see this because he is around a lot of people who seem very close, Something that gangsters usually cherish and are very protective of. The representation of the African American Gangster hasnt changed much throughout history. It seems to reflect Vanilla Ice as a caring person, but it also shows him as somebody who likes to have fun and enjoy himself. I feel that it can reflect the genre in both a positive and also a negative way, positive in the way that people are having fun in the video. But negative in the way that it could be looked at as a parody of some sorts due to some of the images shown in the video. I feel that it meets the expectations of the audience due to the upbeat tempo and nature of the song, this is also similar
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Ice_Baby

to the actions, dancing the video images. Ice Ice Baby has a feel good, positive impact on the audience due to the quicker tempo and happy images displayed. In conclusion I believe that Ice Ice Baby can have many different interpretations depending on what you see or hear in the music video. I believe that is meant to be a happy video, portraying Vanilla Ice as a caring individual who likes to have alot of fun. I also believe that is also a bit parody like due to how Vanilla Ice and the back up dancers are dancing throughout the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lexLAjh8fPA&feature=related Eminem - Like Toy Soldiers

Eminem (Marshall Mathers) was one of the main reasons why white rap became such a huge part of the music industry. Releasing his debut album Infinite in 1996 which was an experiment for him, trying to find out and develop his own personal style. He often uses satire a lot in his

music, sometimes it is malicious and aimed at somebody but more often than not it is used in a sarcastic way. "Infinite was me trying to figure out how I wanted my rap style to be, how I wanted to sound on the mic and present myself. It was a growing stage. I felt like Infinite was like a demo that just got pressed up." 5 In the music video Like Toy Soldiers it starts of with a shot of Eminem with blood covering his shirt. It begins in a longshot zooming in to a close up shot, then cuts over to a surgery bed of an African American man in a hospital bed covered in blood with doctors surrounding him trying to save his life. The shot then cuts back to Eminem and he throws a chair out of frustration, meaning something bad could have happened to the man in the hospital bed. I believe this to show diversity purposes in rap. Later in the video (3:50) there is a shot of Eminem in front of several African American men, I believe this is trying to show a sort of ratio, saying how many African American artists there are in comparison to white artists in the rap industry. "I think my first album opened a lot of doors for me to push the freedom of speech to the limit." 6

The video focuses on how the African American rap artists are generally more popular and seem to have groups where they act and stick together. At 4:45 in the video, it shows African American artists standing at microphones recording, it then fades them out of the shot and it proceeds onto another artist and repeats it. It does this twice and then it changes to a shot of the African American man in the hospital bed at the start before he was shot. Showing what had happened to him. I feel like this was trying to signify how rap contains a lot of danger depending on what you say. This could relate to the way that Tupac Shakir and Notorious B.I.G. died. They were both killed by gun wounds. Eminem even talks about this during the song: There used to be a time, where you could say a rhyme and you wouldnt have to worry about one of your people dying. This creates a saddened reality due to the deaths of famous rap artists generally being related to gun crime. Released in early 2005, the song's video starts with two young boys, one who is white and one who is black, watching the news and being bored, and as the news anchor says a rapper is trying to stop the rapwars. Cameo appearances in the video include 50 Cent, Luis Resto, Dr. Dre, Obie Trice, and D12. Deceased

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http://www.eminem.net/quotes/ http://www.eminem.net/quotes/

rappers 2Pac, Biggie Smalls, Big L, and former D12 member Bugz are also shown at the end of the music video to show the fatal consequences of rap wars. 7 Like Toy Soldiers is a rap video featuring Eminem. It is a fairly conventional video when thinking of the stereotypes of rap. It is conventional because it talks about how rappers use their songs and lyrics to speak badly about each other which provokes gang wars and gun crimes. The genre of rap has changed alot over time, it is alot more accessible to other people now and is often a part of the mainstream. Rap also involves alot more Caucasian people now rather than the African American majority which used to own rap. I feel that Like Toy Soldiers reflects Eminem in a more responsible way than what he used to partake in with his self-deprecating rap. Eminem used to talk about very rare, grotesque and odd situations which were meant for comedic purposes, some of these lyrics were stick a gerbil in your a** through a tube and my penis is the size of a peanut have you seen it?. Like Toy Soldiers reflects him as a troubled man, it shows troubles with rap and how it is a dangerous genre. Like Toy Soldiers meets the expectations of the audience because it provides a nonlinear story which starts and ends with a tragic event. I feel that Like Toy Soldiers promotes Eminem in a positive way, it shows him as a caring person in the video although he is troubled by alot of other problems.

I feel that Like Toy Soldiers uses a non-linear narrative, this is due to the African American man in the hospital bed at the start of the video and is slowly moves back in time to the moment where he is shot. I feel that Eminem is portrayed as a caring man in this video. He acts vengeful and aggressive due to his friends death. I feel the use of transition shots and close up shots really interact with the viewer because it provides a sudden impact of emotion. I feel that it helps promote Eminem because it shows him in a different light to what he used to be shown in because he used to be careless and comedic in his videos. I feel that it can have a very strong impact on the audience because of some of the shots used. I feel that in Like Toy Soldiers, Eminem uses a similar gangster stereotype to that in which Vanilla Ice uses. It is similar in the way that he has a caring side towards people in the video. However, the video is mainly focused around the violent side of the African American Gangster stereotype. The representation of the African American Gangster hasnt changed much throughout history. Although, it does show a more violent side of rap music. It reflects Eminem as a person who can be very defensive towards people he cares about. I feel that it can reflect the genre in both a positive and also a negative way, positive in the way that Eminem is caring towards people, but in a negative way due to how it is revolving around violence. I feel that the non-linear story from the music video can be an attraction for the audience. This is because you see a tragic scene at the start of the music video and it slowly unravels throughout the video making the audience watch on. I feel that it can have a strong impact on the audience, this could be due to the very start of the video where the two children open up a book reading the story of the song. This could also be a meaning showing that children are being shown similar things to this in our current day in age.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Like_Toy_Soldiers

Like Toy Soldiers has developed well throughout time, it has been one of Eminems more popular songs achieving over 72 million views on his VEVO channel alone, excluding all other duplicates of the song which have been shared around on YouTube and other music video and social networking sites. It does well for the rap genre creating a good balance of extreme footage and body actions portrayed by Eminem. It shows the caring and the violent sides of rap so it is able to create different interpretations for the audience. They could believe Eminem to be a violent man or a caring man and this opinion could change throughout the video. I do however feel that it is an attractive video for the target audience. It provides alot of qualities that people who listen to rap want to hear along with a non-linear storyline which helps draw and attract the attention of the viewer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=gAYL5H46QnQ&list=FLveJkKZUx93a_N9Fq5c4J2Q&index=17&feature=plpp_video The Lonely Island - Threw It On The Ground

The Lonely Island are a part of the new age of white rap. Their lyrics are not based on anything in common with the usual rap artists such as, Tupac Shakir, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg. They usually talk about things which make themselves look bad and about subjects which are usually parody based, dwelling themselves in satire. They are also the main reason that YouTube is being used as a marketing scheme now. The pressure to come up with what is going to be financially successful in the future means that staff must take risks and invest in personal belief and hope in what they are doing. 8 You can see that they are mainly parody artists from alot of the unconventional lyrics they have used in their previous songs. Some examples of these are I jizzed in my pants and suck my own d**k. Meanwhile the African American rap artists usually talk about subjects such as
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Negus, K. (1992) Producing Pop. London: Edward Arnold. P.152

objectifying women, drugs and gang war. While these may be stereotypical of the rap genre they are actually the most common talking points of rap music. Yes, we're a comedy act and we use musical elements as a medium for that comedy. 9 Throughout this video they take the aggressive attitude that African American artists have used to show an irony because they are angry for a different reason in the video. I believe that The Lonely Island use the slow motion shots on items being destroyed to emphasize the destruction of the item framed.

Andy Samberg is the lone member of the band who appears in the video. He plays a character who is absurdly cynical and disillusioned with life, and possibly in some sort of quarter-life crisis, walking down a city street and throwing things he is given on the ground. 10 Threw it on the Ground is a rap video featuring The Lonely Island. They have a very unconventional music video. You can see this from the events in the music video, the singer in the video is dressed up as a trendy person. He also destroys many objects throughout the video which could be classed as a conventional rap idea. In some shots he is in a black room with a ceiling light onto a microphone hanging from the ceiling also which he sings into. The genre of rap has changed alot over time, it is alot more accessible to other people now and is often a part of the mainstream. Rap also involves alot more Caucasian people now rather than the African American majority which used to own rap. While the group is most strongly inspired by hip-hop and R&B, the lyrics are commonly rooted in self-deprecation as is reflected in a 2011 interview conducted shortly before the release of Turtleneck and Chain. 11 Threw it on the Ground reflects The Lonely Island in a self-depreciating way. It makes them look like they care about their appearance, but it also makes them look like they are attempting to make a mockery of the rap genre. Threw it on the Ground meets the expectations of the audience because it is still comedic while trying to maintain a stoic appearance. I feel that Threw it on the Ground is almost counter-productive in the way it promotes The Lonely Island. They try to make themselves look stupid throughout the video but that is what draws viewers to their videos.

http://www.artistdirect.com/entertainment -news/article/interview-the-lonely-island/4969022 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072562/ episodes 11 http://exclaim.ca/Interviews/WebExclusive/lonely_island


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I feel that Threw it on the Ground has an open Text narrative. I think that there is no true story to the video and if you were to place it in any order that it would still make the same sense that the video already makes. I feel the Andy from the Lonely Island is portrayed as a man with alot of social issues in the video, he treats people with disrespect and tries to make them look like they are wrong doers. I feel the use of slow motion shots help create a strong emotion associated with Andy in this video. I feel that it helps promote The Lonely Island because they are well known for these types of music videos and their comedic input towards the rap industry. I feel that this video can have a good effect on an audience due to the special effects used in the video. Threw it on the Ground uses a hipster stereotype from our current age.

The representation shown I believe hasnt always been referred to as hipster-like as much as it as been referred to as pretentious actions and beliefs. I feel that it reflects The Lonely Island in a positive way, this is due to the fact that hipsters are not very popular in today's society this is due to a number of reasons. It is difficult to say how this song reflects the genre of rap, it was produced for pop-parody purposes. I feel that it meets the expectations of the audience, this is due to other songs that The Lonely Island have made. This means that the audience generally expect something similar to their usual songs and Threw it on the Ground would meet that criteria. I feel it can have a strong impact on the audience due to some of the shots used, this is because some shots are close ups to get a perspective that Andy is speaking to you and the slow motion shots to create a slower panicked feeling. I believe that Threw it on the Ground, has one main interpretation throughout the song, this is due to there being no narrative I feel. I felt that Threw it on the Ground was used as a parody of hipsters, even the way that the singer is dressed is similar to the hipster stereotype. I believe they also tried to use the spotlight with the microphone hanging from the ceiling to help create a parody feel. Rap has a bad reputation in white circles, where many people believe it consists of obscene and violent anti-white and anti-female guttural. Some of it does. Most does not. Most white listeners don't care; they hear black voices in a litany of discontent, and tune out. Yet rap plays the same role today as Bob Dylan did in 1960, giving voice to the hopes and angers of a generation, and a lot of rap is powerful writing. 12 In conclusion, I believe that White Rap/Hip-Hop has had some significant changes throughout time. Starting with Vanilla Ice, having a feel-good and a warm, heartfelt video with backup dancers and pictures of a ghetto-based area. Eminem moved from a satire into gang wars and relationships between other rappers/producers that have been a part of Rap/Hip-Hop. And finally, The Lonely Island move onto a newer age of rap music revolving around satire and parodies. It shows a large change throughout history about how people can use the same musical genre to show interpretations of both serious and comedic values.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop

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