Music Video Analyses

A$AP Rocky - 'L$D (LOVE x $EX x DREAMS)'

A$AP Rocky's video for 'L$D' combines elements of narrative, concept and some performance, all basic video structures as stated by theorist Joan Lynch, as there is a basic narrative of meeting a woman in Tokyo, however, this is overshadowed by a heavy use of effects, particularly in the edits between shots and there is a section of performance lip-syncing. Due to the heavy use of special effects, the video could be classed as 'the special effects extravaganza', one of the six central genres of music videos, theorised by Jon Gow. It follows some of the typical music video codes and conventions that Andrew Goodwin highlighted as there is a definite relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as the song is based around usage of the drug LSD, and also includes themes of love and sex, all of which are shown in the video, to some extent; there is also a clear relationship between the music and the visuals as the edits and camera movement follow the tune and beat of the song; the video also has a lot of close up of Rocky, which may have been demanded on part of the record company as suggested by Goodwin. There is a clear intertextual reference as the entire video, bar the 03:13-04:33 section which uses a different song, is based on a French film set in Tokyo (the same location as this music video) called 'Enter the Void' (directed by Gasper Noe, 2009) which follows similar themes to the song and uses similar settings and effects. The music video was directed by Dexter Navy, who has done a few of A$AP Rocky's videos among others for artists from the Hip-Hop genre, and co-directed by the artist himself who is a fan of the film it is based on. 

The location of the video, Tokyo, Japan's capital, is represented in this video as a busy, bright city with an active nightlife. The video is edited with visual effects in post-production to increase the exposure to surreal levels, accentuating the bright neon lights on almost every building, that the city is famous for. It is visually edited further than that even, making the lights jump out in time with the music, as can be seen by the clip below from 00:44 of the music video:

The above clip also shows how camera is used to represent Tokyo as a large city, using a low angle shot of a few skyscrapers to make them look taller in comparison to the character. The shot is also done in a point-of-view shot style, using fluid camera movement, tilting upward and panning right, so it appears that Rocky is looking up at the buildings in awe of their size and the bright neon lights that cover them. The next shot in the clip frames the artist in a long shot, in order to highlight his size in comparison to the surrounding city, again representing the city as expansive.

In general, the mise-en-scene represents Tokyo as a positive bright place, choosing to filter out any illicit activities that might take place in the city, other than, of course, the use of the LSD drug. This could be because the video is based around the drug, which alters the world around the user as they hallucinate, but it could also be interpreted as a positive representation of the city's' nightlife. The mise-en-scene is heavily focused on colour and, more specifically, bright coloured lights, representing Tokyo as a place at the forefront of technology. One specific scene is located in a bright room down a flight of stairs, which is used to show Tokyo's underground beauty, as screenshotted below from 2:53:

In terms of costume, all of the central people in the video are seen wearing clothes which would be considered at the forefront of urban streetwear fashion, which is something that Tokyo is known for as it has produced a lot of globally successful streetwear brands. By the mise-en-scene of the costumes being based around this, Tokyo is represented as being very fashionable. 

A$AP Rocky's 'L$D' music video both challenges and follows the Hip-Hop genre conventions. One convention of a Hip-Hop video is the artist lip-syncing while making direct gaze with the audience. Throughout most of the video this is not shown, as there is more of a focus on narrative and visual effects, which goes against stereotypical conventions, however, between 03:13 and 04:33, there is what seems to be a dream sequence, using a more typically Hip-Hop song which shows Rocky rapping into a mirror beneath him, making it appear as a low angle shot, a convention of the genre. This can be seen in this screenshot from 04:14 of the video:

This section of the video also follows the convention that Hip-Hop stars want to show their wealth in videos, as represented by his gold watch and rings and the collection of gold chandeliers above him in the setting. The rest of the video, however, is more focused on the narrative and visual effects, which aren't elements typically associated with Hip-Hop videos. Editing in Hip-Hop videos is usually not focused upon, typically going for continuity and/or cross-cutting. The conventional editing style is challenged in 'L$D' as attention is definitely drawn to every edit as, due to visual effects, they disorientate the audience as the shots blend into each other using a combination of graphic matches and visual effects. However, the fast paced editing, as displayed in the below clip, is typical of the genre as it keeps the audience engaged in the visuals.

A Hip-Hop music video convention that 'L$D' follows with its' sound is the use of more than one song within the same music video. Another Hip-Hop artist that does this is prominent rapper Kendrick Lamar. Rocky appears to do this so he can appeal to his Hip-Hop fan target audience, even though the song itself and the rest video are not typical of the genre. 

The setting of the video, Tokyo, is a major city which follows the Hip-Hop convention of videos being shot in urban environments. Also, the clothing that Rocky and the other people in the video wear are typical of the genre as they wear a lot of urban streetwear, which is stereotypically what most Hip-Hop artists wear. Drug usage is also a stereotype of Hip-Hop videos, which Rocky follows in the beginning of the video when he is shown, in an aerial shot, smoking what can be assumed is L$D.

In terms of camera, there are a lot of shots of the artist, A$AP Rocky, which goes along with conventional Hip-Hop videos. Most of these shots are framed as close ups, so the rappers image is ingrained into any of the audience who are not familiar with the artist and he is instantly recognisable to his fans.

There is quite a positive overall representation of women in the video, contrary to the stereotypes of Hip-Hop music videos as the one female in the video is not objectified by using typical close ups on her body and she does not dance or dress in a way that accentuates her "assets". The woman, rather than being a model or an actress as would typically be used, is actually a fashion designer from Tokyo who goes by the name Yoon Ambush and has her own Ambush clothing line. She is frequently framed in a two-shot with A$AP Rocky, representing the fact that they have equal roles in the fictional relationship as they take up the same amount of space on the screen. In a particular moment (01:54) shown in the below screenshot, she is even at the front of the shot, showing that she has power over the artist as she is leading the way.

A similar moment reoccurs at around the 02:34 mark of the video, this one even more obviously representing the woman as in control as she physically leads Rocky down the stairs by his hand, in a long two shot as shown in the clip below.

The clip also shows that, soon after she leads him down the stairs, there is an extreme close up of the pairs interlocked hands, signifying that they are entirely equal in their relationship. The female is also the one who breaks the connection, showing that she has freedom to do what she wants. This is also shown at the very end of the video at 05:00 with editing because there is an 'invisible' cut used to make her look like she disappears as he is talking to her, representing her free will and the fact that she cannot be take advantage of as she is represented as independent because she could walk away whenever she wishes, as shown in this clip.

The video for 'L$D' has a loose, basic narrative of 'boy meets girl' that runs throughout, however, the structure is definitely nonlinear as it does not tell the story in chronological order, choosing instead to cut between seemingly unrelated images at points, almost in the style of montage editing. The loose narrative structure follows a theory that Carol Vernallis came up with suggesting that music videos do not embody complete narratives or convey finely wrought stories. This theory applies very well to 'L$D' as the story of the artist meeting a woman and looking around Tokyo with her is not entirely shown, and the ending, which is edited to make her disappear, does not make logical sense. It also goes along with another one of Vernallis' theories as she states that music videos tend to be a consideration of a topic, rather than an enactment, as the video acts as a consideration of the effects of LSD, with a double meaning of love, but does not tell a coherent story about either. 

To convey the narrative, a lot of tracking shots of Rocky and Yoon are used, showing them walking through Tokyo, both together and apart, as they meet and fall in love. Two shots of the pair are also frequently used, as illustrated in these screenshots (timecodes in captions):

01:54

02:06

02:34

02:48

04:44

05:00

The music video and, by extension, the story, begins with an aerial shot spiralling upwards of A$AP Rocky smoking LSD, setting the scene as the entire video has a psychedelic drug-trip-like feel to it due to the fluid camera movements, visual effects, bright colours of mise-en-scene and the transition edits between shots. The incoherent, nonlinear structure of the video is most likely chosen due the fact it is showing the effects of LSD, trying to recreate a 'trip' induced by the drug. The narrative then continues with a series of tracking shots, following Rocky as he moves through the streets of the city in a seemingly aimless manner, taking in the exaggerated  lights of the city, made more prominent by visual effects. The effects work to create a quite subjective feel to the whole music video as we are seeing the world as Rocky's drug-addled brain perceives it to be. 

There is then a very fast paced edit of a series of shots showing Rocky meeting a woman (Yoon) in what appears to be a bar and then walking with her. This scene (which I included a clip of in reference to typical Hip-Hop editing further back in the essay) works to condense their meeting down into a very short space of time, disorienting  the audience and perhaps even representing how Rocky, under the influence of drugs, remembered it. The two are then shown kissing on a balcony (at 02:02), juxtaposed with the next series of shots that show them both alone. This juxtaposition could suggest that they took some time apart after their first kiss but eventually realised that they wanted to see each other again, as illustrated at the end of the clip below, showing them reconvene.

The two then explore a bright basement in Tokyo before Rocky has, what is set up to seem like, an LSD induced dream. The editing, sound, camera and mise-en-scene used in the section add up to suggest this as a close up of Rocky's face as he is looking particularly uninvolved with the scene, before cutting to a shot of the same composition, but this time of the back of his head. The close up on his head brings about the suggestion that the next sequence is supposed to be a dream. The visual effects editing as the next shot seems to ripple from his head adds to this. The sound is also a factor as the track fades away and is then replaced by a different one, and the bright white colour creates a binary opposite (Levi-Strauss) to the rest of the video as most of it is set at night time so there are a lot of dark colours. These uses of the four main micro-elements to represent a narrative can be seen clearly in the clip below.

The ending of the video, in which editing makes the love interest for Rocky disappear, creates an almost circular narrative as the artist begins the video alone and ends it alone. This creates a bleak outlook on the usage of drugs because it shows that, while it may be entertaining while it lasts, that feeling does not last, as represented by the woman leaving him once the effects had worn off. This creates a good message for the audience as it teaches them that drugs do not create happiness as Rocky begins and ends the video the same.

As I stated in the intro, the music video for 'L$D' is based almost entirely on the style of French film 'Enter the Void. The video is edited very similarly, using similar effects as both films are based, at least partly, around the subject of a drug induced 'trip'. The film even begins in a similar way to the video as it starts with the main character smoking LSD and in both cases the camera moves upwards. 

One scene from the music video in particular seeks to reference a scene from 'Enter the Void' as Rocky chose to use the same location to shoot in (Club Ai in Tokyo) as illustrated in the two screenshots below, the top being from 'L$D' (timecode: 02:49) and the lower picture from a scene in 'Enter the Void'.

The two shots above even have similar composition, highlighting the clear influence that the film had on the music video. The mise-en-scene of the music video is also very similar to 'Enter the Void' as they both have a focus on bright colours and neon lights because they're both based around drugs and set entirely in Tokyo.

Kendrick Lamar - 'i'

The 'i' video, directed by French director Alexandre Moors, is a combination of a narrative and performance video (two of the basic music video structures that Lynch theorised), as there is a very basic narrative that goes very well with the contents of the songs' lyrics, and some cutaways to a more traditional Hip-Hop performance style with the artist rapping towards the camera, making direct gaze with the audience. Andrew Goodwin highlighted seven key typical codes and conventions of music videos and 'i' follows most of these as there is a partial relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the narrative reflecting the theme of self-love/confidence that the song promotes; there is also a relationship between the music and the visuals as almost the whole video has dancing in it, in time with the song; the video follows the style of a Hip-Hop video in some ways; there are quite a few close up shots of the artist, Kendrick Lamar; there is some reference to voyeurism, at one point the camera shows someone in their house through a window; and finally, there are some intertextual references. Overall, I think the video could be classified as one of Gow's central six genres of music video as a 'song and dance number', because it is, for the most part, based around dancing and vocal performance. 

The music video has a sort of circular narrative structure, as classified by Todorov, as Kendrick Lamar is presented as dancing through South LA, encouraging people around him to dance with him and gain more self-confidence, love and respect, but ultimately returns to the club where he was at the start of the video and goes back to having his hair braided as he was before, suggesting that he perhaps cannot escape his own self-hatred, even though he encourages others to do so. To tell the narrative coherently, the video uses continuity editing for the most part but also uses some cutaways and parallel editing to present the artist being filmed in a performance style.

The opening of the video shows a member of the "blood" gang and a member of the "crip" gang, identifiable by their clothing as red is the "blood" gang colour and blue the "crips" and the prop of the bandana in their pockets matching the colour of their gang (a tradition carried out by the two gangs), starting a fight with each other. This is quickly interrupted by Kendrick Lamar pulling the auxiliary cable out of a nearby speaker, in extreme close up to signify its' importance, and a seemingly-diegetic hyper-real (exaggerated) sound of the music being cut off synchronises with the visuals. A cutaway is then used to show an older man, using direct gaze with the audience, diegetically shouting about peace, linking with the narrative, before Kendrick Lamar's song 'i' kicks in. Lamar and this man are immediately set up as the peacemakers in the video as they are both wearing white in binary-opposition (Levi-Strauss) to the dark colours that everyone else in the video is wearing. At this point Lamar stands up from his chair and starts dancing in an unusual, upbeat way and the other people in the club soon copy his dance, following the artist as he moves. This can be seen in the clip below:

 

Kendrick is then shown leading the ever-increasing crowd behind him past a homeless man, who smiles and lowers his alcohol when he hears the music showing Lamar's positive impact, and a scene of police injustice, cutting away from the artist to show these. The editing for the scene is quite slow, lingering mostly on Lamar using long-take tracking shots and keeping the rapper in the centre of the frame, showing his importance, for the most part. The main action of Lamar leading the crowd with his dancing is intercut with performance style shots of the artist lip syncing in a similar location. This performance often links with the action throughout the video, for example, in these two juxtaposed shots showing Lamar stopping his performance to watch the police brutality and have a symbolic moment of 'silence' as he stops lip syncing. This can be seen in the screenshots below:

01:43

01:45

Kendrick continues to lead his followers through the streets and dance in the cutaways, speeding up in accordance to the beat of the song. The camera then pulls focus to a house as Lamar runs past it in order to show a couple fighting in a garden and two young children standing as far away as they can. These children then join the crowd, as a representation of the effect of escapism that Lamar and other Hip-Hop artists' music can have on young people. Almost immediately after this, with the camera continuing to pan, tracking Kendrick's movements, the camera moves in an almost subjective way with hand-held movement as if it could be a point of view shot to show a view into someone's window. The audience are shown a man in a state of complete distress who looks like he is about to kill himself with a gun to his head and an excess of bottles of alcohol in front of him. This shot is a clear reference to voyeurism, one of Goodwin's typical codes and conventions as I previously stated. The man is shown lowering his gun as he sees and hears Kendrick dancing past, the final specific example in the video of the artists' positive influence on his listeners. Lamar then reaches the bridge that he is rapping next to in the performance shots, seemingly the destination he wanted to lead everyone to. There are then a few shots of people dancing, including Kendrick himself, before a slow motion effect is used, in synchronization with the music as it too slows down for the bridge of the song. The next few shots are done with quite fast editing, showing Lamar walking away from the dance and into a car and quite tightly framed slow motion shots of people dancing. This sequence can be seen below:

The artist leaves once he has made everyone around him happy and more self-confident, as he believes he has succeeded but he fails to help himself. A stable shot of Lamar leaning far out of the back window of a car as he is driven back to the club is intercut with hand held footage of him performing the rapid fire final verse of the song in an almost aggressive manner towards the camera. This juxtaposition of the stable and unstable camera movements creates a contrast between the two scenes, as if he is feeling two different emotions simultaneously. He seems to find peace as he relaxes out of the window before an elliptical edit is used to cut out some time before he arrives at the club. The final shot of the sequence shows Kendrick sitting in the same seat as he was sat in at the beginning of the video as the hair dresser continues the braids that she had started earlier on. The shots of Lamar at the beginning and the end have fairly similar shot compositions, with the latter framed slightly wider, as seen in this comparison (top is from beginning and bottom is from the end):

00:13

04:24

The similar shot compositions work to strengthen the connection between Lamar's unhappy state of mind at the beginning and the end, despite the fact he just helped a lot of people find themselves. His unchanged emotion is shown through close up framing in each shot as it highlights his unhappy facial expression. The circular narrative structure of the video works to suggest that Lamar can have a positive impact on the lives around him, a metaphor for his listeners in general, as they continue to dance and express themselves after he leaves, but he cannot seem to grow to love himself as does not personally change in the video, even though the song encourages this in others.

Kendrick Lamar's video for 'i' contains a few intertextual references, with the most prominant one being a clear reference to a particular shot of The Joker from the 2008 film 'The Dark Knight'. The very similar composition can be seen from the two screenshots below, the top being from 'The Dark Knight' and the bottom from 'i' at time code 03:44:

Not only are the compositions similar, but the action of the scene from 'i' greatly resembles the action from 'The Dark Knight' shot as the car swerves through a wide street, as can be seen here ('The Dark Knight' above and 03:48 from 'i' below):

Other references include cameos from Kendrick Lamar collaborators George Clinton and Ron Isley, the latter of whom contributed to the record itself. Clinton's brief background appearance can be seen at 01:09 as he sits outside the club exit, reading what can be seen is his autobiography 'Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard On You?: A Memoir'. Isley's cameo is more developed than Clinton's as he plays Lamar's driver, first appearing at 03:03, slightly disguised by the sunglasses he is wearing. The cameos can be seen in these screenshots:

George Clinton from 01:10

Ron Isley from 04:12

The 'i' music video is set in South Los Angeles, starting in a club, moving through the suburban streets to a bridge and ending at the same club as the beginning. South LA is home to the largest black community in the Western United States, which makes it a suitable choice of setting as the song and video tackle issues surrounding black lives. 

The setting of the club is represented as quite a slow place, using slow motion, slow editing and a slow pulsating synth beat, not part of the original 'i' song, composed specifically for the video. Despite the fact that most people in the club are dancing and have happy facial expressions, they seem to be moving in quite a controlled way, as they are shown restricted to the same dance moves on repeat. The fight that breaks out works to represent the club as hostile, which works with Lamar taking everyone away from the club, showing that he believes it to be a bad place. 

The suburban area which Lamar leads everyone through is represented as being quite a depressed place, using focus pulls to show several scenes of anger, depression and police interference. The dark colour palette of the video, due to the fact it was filmed at night, creates an all-round sad tone to the video, making the locations appear worse than they would during the day. 

The final location that is shown in the video is presented through mise-en-scene and wide framing as being a bright open space that everyone in the video can express themselves in freely. The area is very well lit, creating a sense that this is a place of solace through binary opposition (Levi-Strauss) to the darker mise-en-scene of the other locations in the video. There are a lot of wide angle shots of people dancing in the location and long takes adding to the sense of freedom that the wide open space creates. The hand-held camera style in some shots and general free-flowing movement of the camera adds to this. This can all be seen in this clip:

In general, 'i' goes against most of the typical conventions of a Hip-Hop video, but does choose to conform to some. The video has a more positive message than other videos of the genre, which stereotypically can be known to glorify gang violence, crime and use of illegal substances. 

One convention that the video conforms to is a focus on shots of the artist, in this case Kendrick Lamar, using mostly close ups to mid shots, with the occasional long shot. The performance parts of the video also conform to a typical Hip-Hop style, with hand-held camera movement and Lamar rapping directly towards the camera. The editing of the video, however, goes against typical Hip-Hop videos as it is slower than what can usually be expected. The intro soundtrack to the music video also goes against stereotypical Hip-Hop videos as it is more jazz influenced than most sound associated with the genre. The camera movement is also a lot more controlled than that of conventional Hip-Hop videos, opting for long take steady tracking shots most of the time, rather than typical hand-held style shots, however, it does utilize these at some points in the video, conforming to convention. 

The objectification of women is a Hip-Hop genre stereotype that 'i' does not attempt to go against, using some lingering close up shots of the female body at the beginning and end of the video and shots of general mistreatment of women, some examples of which can be seen here:

00:24

00:29

02:58

03:11

The final shot above is even done in slow motion to draw extra focus to their bodies as they dance. The costumes that the women are wearing add to this objectification of women in the video as they are mostly dressed in crop-tops and short shorts in order to draw attention to their "assets". The editing is quite slow when presenting the women, choosing longer takes than necessary. 

In general, the females in this video are represented in a way stereotypical of Hip-Hop as they are represented as just being like objects for men to look at. However, in the context of the video they mostly presented as being equal to the men in it, bar Kendrick who leads everyone, as they dance and follow him, the same as what the men are seen doing.