Friday 6 February 2015

Critical Investigation

WWW; Loads of quotes and some very good points. However the overall essay lacks coherence.

EBI; - you need to introduce those quotes and analyse them in place you have too many so lose track of your point.
- you desperately need strong topic sentence for each paragraph to show you're are focused on the Q.
-surely you must have more texts for you bibliography? You need more books + journals for the top topics 
- ending is weak; history of hip hop feels thrown in to pad it out 
- where is feminism and new/digital media ?

Grade A - things to do order to achieve it 

Wednesday 21 January 2015

Preliminary exercise: Recreation task

Name of the text you plan to recreate:
Ain't on nuttin - J Hus 
Scene/section you will recreate:
J Hus verse - 2:14-2:53
Location you will use for your recreation:
Streets 
Actors you will require for your recreation:
My self and a couple of friends 
Props/costumes you will require for your recreation:
normal clothing
Equipment you plan to use:
Camera

Tripod 

Any other relevant information:

None 

Linked Production brief

Your Critical Investigation topic: 
To what extent does Hip hop artists glorifying violence and misogyny effect audience behaviours?


Your Linked Production brief: 
Produce a few minutes of a music video establishing narrative themes, characters and location.

Length/size of production (e.g. 3 minutes, 5 pages etc.): 
3 minutes 45 seconds
Give an example of an existing media text this is similar to what you plan to produce: 
- French Montana - Don't Panic 
- Chief Keef - Don't Like 
Give an example of an institution that would produce or distribute your planned production:
- Roc Nation 
- Maybeach music 

How would your production reach its audience?
- Youtube 
- Twitter 
Who do you plan to work with on this project?
- Me,Myself & 1

Monday 12 January 2015

Historical Textual Analyse: Sir-Mix-A lot – 'Baby Got Back'

Anthony Ray known as Sir-mix-a lot is that artist that recorded the song ‘Baby Got Back’.  At the time of release in 1992, the song caused public outrage and controversy with its ‘outspoken’ and ‘sexual lyrics’ about women, with references to female’s buttocks. This was a breakthrough in hip pop where objectifying lyrics were blatantly used in a music video which caused major MTV a major institution in the music industry that broadcast music genre, to briefly band the video. The song sold 2,392,000 physical copies and was the second best-selling song in the US in 1992, behind Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You.  In 2008, it was ranked number 17 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.


‘Baby got back’ is a slight reflection of Hip Hop in the modern era because the narrative of the songs are very similar however, there is more violence associated within the videos. In terms of Don’t Panic both objectify women with focus of the women’s features and taking ownership of females.  The key representation in are similar as beautiful women with big boobs, big buttocks or both are used in music videos as ‘ugly women’ are not used.  Hip Hop has evolved from civil rights movement to demonstrating power and wealth. 

Primary Textual Analysis: French Montana – Don’t Panic

“To what extent does Hip hop artists glorifying violence and misogyny effect audience behaviours?”

Media Language
In the first 30 seconds of French Montana’s music video don’t panic there are a variety of media languages and forms used for example there are ,as stereotypical of a music video, a lot or the lack of facial expressions, props and cinematography that reinforce the genre of Hip Hop in the modern era. In the opening scene there is a close up tracking shot of a male dragging a weapon ‘hammer’ on the floor walking towards an individual triggering non-verbal codes that a violent scene is about to occur. In the second scene there is a medium shot where we can noticeably see a distressed women that is tied to a chair however the framing is so that the identity of the male is unknown creating an enigma code for the audience. The setting is in an isolate area with props such as plastic covers used with low key lighting to make to install fear. Additionally gestures of begging and mercy are used by women with non-diegetic sound used over her voice. The connotation of this is that she is fear of her life, where this is further reinforced in the following scene where there is a close up shot of the women, in her twenties, screaming with contrapuntal sound used which contradicts the scene. In the next 4 seconds of the music there are a number of montage shots where series of short shots are edited into a sequence for instance the is parallel diegetic sound of screaming with a shot of the women then cuts to a group of males wearing masks and carry weapons, then cuts back to the women.

Institutions
French Montana is the founder and CEO of cocaine city records (Coke Boyz). In 2012, he signed a joint venture recording deal with Maybach music group and bad boy’s records. Additionally, Maybach music group albums are distributed by Warner Bros Records, which took over distribution following the expiration of a deal with Def Jam Records. Who controls the institutions above does matter for a number of reasons for instance as he’s CEO of his own record label he can decide when to release songs whereas in a joint venture he has to collaborate with people within the business on when to release songs and albums. Furthermore, because he’s CEO of his record label he gets more money than if he released it with Maybach music group.
The music video is distributed on French Montana’s official vevo YouTube channel where he's other music videos are located. In albums and mix tapes wise warner bros records distributed them and would be available on iTunes and etc.

Genre

The genre that the texts “don’t panic” and artist belongs to is Hip Hop music. Major generic conventions within the text and hip hop: Editing for example collage of different of different settings, Promoting the artist French Montana, Camera shots for example low angle shots, close ups, medium shots etc., Intro and outro .  The generic them in this music video is violence, wealth, power, dominance and control over their environment. Moreover, to a large extent the text does fulfil the expectations of the audience as they would expect it to contain a lot of violence, money, girls and cars which are all in the music video. The music video does conform to the characteristics of the rap and hip pop genre as rappers and singers want to show off their wealth and power.

The music video "Don't panic" does feature stars such as French Montana who is a big name in the rap and hip pop industry and is associated with other big names such as meek mills, lil wayne, rick ross etc. Another star that was feature in the music video was khloe kardashian who is associated with one of the most famous families in the world the kardashian family. She is associated with a lot of big names such as her sisters and also she is dating French Montana. 

Representation

 In the opening scenes of "Don't panic" there are a lot of representations of characters for instance the female at the beginning of the music video is tied up by a male carrying a weapon , make up running and crying reinforces the dominate gender stereotype that women are vulnerable and weaker than males. Another representation that is reinforced is those males are more violent than females as there are predominately males carrying weapons such as knifes and hammers. However, some females as shown with the music video showing signs of power and authority. French Montana is represented as rich and in control which is the typical representation of male rappers which is the image they try to portray to their audiences.

 The music video is explicit which shows the rich and luxuries life of rappers as cars and women are displaced to reinforce the dominated representations that they live a life of fantasy that only the rich and famous are custom to. I believe that the representation shown in the music video is accurate but on the other side I also think that this is not reflective of society as behind all the money and fame they have the same problems as normal people for example they can get addicted to drugs or even go bankrupt. Additionally, the main reason why i believe this is that there are other rappers that don't rap about violence for instance drake sings songs relationship based not violence so i don't think that it’s fair to label every hip pop artist as rapping about and encouraging violence in their lyrics and music video. 

There are a number of opportunities that exist for self-representation by the subject for one because it’s the rappers song and he says the option to base his song on anything but decides to base song on violence where he says "nigga" over 40 times showing that he’s superior and above the law as if a "normal" person says anything remotely similar then they would be in considerable trouble. Moreover, the black people in the music video have had the opportunity to represent them self’s positively but they chose to show the dominated representation of black males as violent and criminals.



Wednesday 5 November 2014

Notes and Quotes

Online articles/links

Why do we tolerate misogyny in music?
The French rapper OrelSan is in trouble over lyrics that demean women – but he is far from being the only guilty musician- http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/mar/31/music-orelsan-rap-misogyny
"Women are described only as "bitches" or "hoes"; violence is a valid response to infidelity; and – most importantly – there is an imperative not to take the lyrics seriously."

"That hitting women is the benchmark of misogyny – words alone fall short of the standard."

"Over the past decade, both rap and hip-hop have raised concerns about misogynistic, homophobic and violent lyrics and demeaning videos."

"It is no surprise that OrelSan is being compared to the king of these debates, the man George Bush once referred to as "the most dangerous threat to American children since polio" – Eminem."

"In Eminem's songs Kim and '97 Bonnie and Clyde, he fantasises about killing his estranged wife Kim in front of their daughter, Hailie. In Kill You, the narrator threatens, "Slut, you think I won't choke no whore / 'Til the vocal chords don't work in her throat no more?!". In the final three seconds of the song, he laughs and says "I'm just playing, ladies. You know I love you", as if to suggest that the whole song has been ironic."

 "Plan B's 2006 album contains songs told from the perspective of murderers, rapists and other violent characters. Citing films such as Irreversible and Baise-Moi (in his lyrics too Sick To Def), Plan B argues that he should be treated in the same way as those films' directors and writers – as a storyteller and narrator of disturbing events, not as a confessing criminal"

"His point is an obvious one: talking is not the same as doing. And of course, we can no more extrapolate a confession of rape and murder from a song by a rapper than we can conclude that all country artists have seen their dogs shot, had their partners cheat on them, and finally become alcoholics."

"The hypocrisy in the discussions is rarely raised. Outrage about violence and misogyny in music is almost always confined to rap and hip-hop, despite there being much to engage with elsewhere."

"Surely we should object either to none of it, or to all of it"

My hip-hop love affair: 'its art, you fool'

My opponent in a hip-hop debate says it glorifies prison culture, but listen to the words – rappers are poets of our time - http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/26/hip-hop-love-affair-debate

'As Tupac Shakur once put it, I see no changes – even with a black president.'

"Hip-hop began as party and club music "that once gave us great joy and/or offered us inspiration". Now it's degenerated into celebration of what he calls "prison culture". He names: "Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Snoop Dog have perverted the American dream for black youth."

"Namely that African Americans are often more likely to get their higher education in jails than in college."

"By glamorising prison and violence the new hip-hop, Whitlock argues, makes incarceration a rite of passage into true black manhood"

"Whitlock declares himself a one-time lover of the music and evidently values those early (let's call them "classic") rap songs which are, typically, laments, not glorifications, of the destiny of young black males. One of the founding texts of rap, Grandmaster Flash's The Message, for instance, glamorises nothing. It's a bitter protest song – as potent as Billie Holiday's protest against lynching in Strange Fruit"

Example lyric - Broken glass everywhere 
People pissing on the stairs, you know they just don't care 
I can't take the smell, I can't take the noise 
Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice 
Rats in the front room, roaches in the back 
Junkies in the alley with the baseball bat 
I tried to get away, but I couldn't get far 
Cause a man with a tow-truck repossessed my car

"The fact that young African Americans shoot each other is a social problem – not a by-product of any music."

"Hip-hop features rap with cheap, readily available and easily mastered electronic systems for its musical accompaniment. Its core, however, remains the archetypal drum and pre-eminently the voice – "slanging" and "rhyming" and "flow"."

"And those words (I would particularly point to those composed – often spontaneously) by Shakur, Ice Cube, and Snoop Dogg – can legitimately take their place in what we regard as poetry, not music. The antics of the some of the performers may disgust us (but no more than, say, Charlie Sheen and Mel Gibson) but it's a voice, and words, that should be listened to before easy conclusions are drawn"
 
Why hip-hop must take its share of blame for spread of violence among teenagers - http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jan/06/arts.politics

“Guns have been part of the baggage of hip-hop since 1988, when Los Angeles's NWA released what was arguably the first gangsta-rap album, Straight Outta Compton.”

“Its robust depiction of violence turned what had been a party genre on its head - and opened it up to slackerly white teenagers who had until then seen it as a black thing.”

“Two threads emerged from the ensuing debate, generating the clichés that persist to this day. On one hand, NWA claimed their songs amounted to simple reportage - the "we're just reflecting real life" defence. Others, from the FBI to the black rights organisation NAACP, detected a shocking amorality.”

“Kim Howells accuses "hateful lyrics" of inciting violence, while the biggest British rap/garage act, So Solid Crew, argue that gun culture is the by-product of escalating poverty, and they can't be blamed if they are caught up in it on their south London estates.”

“Does anyone detect a get-out clause along the same lines as the National Rifle Association slogan "Guns don't kill people, people kill people"?”

“The situation is more complex than it was in the days of NWA and Snoop Dogg (the former spiff-smoking scourge who has evolved into a thirtysomething businessman with his own clothing range).”

“Some insist that envious "haters" make guns a necessity.”

“What it boils down to is that teenage boys are impressionable and always will be. Just reflect that the Sex Pistols once persuaded fans that spitting at each other was fantastically cool.”

“It takes several leaps of the imagination to apply the same logic to guns, but it happens. So no, hip-hop can't claim to be entirely innocent here.”

Chicago hip-hop feud deepens after death of Joseph 'Lil Jojo' Coleman
Bitter Chicago hip-hop feud deepens with launch of remix warning of reprisals over death of young rapper - http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/13/chicago-hip-hop-feud-joseph-lil-jojo-coleman

“A bitter feud between two Chicago hip-hop stars and their affiliates has deepened with the launch of a new remix that warns of bloody reprisals over the murder of one of the rappers.”

“The release has provoked concerns of further bloodshed on the city's streets”

“The feud has led to fierce debate over Chicago's new breed of "gansta rap" stars and calls for record labels which distribute their material to drop those who advocate violence.”

“City’s police are struggling with a 38% spike in homicides this year, which they say is caused by gang violence”

“Cozart's version of the track, which has been viewed 14 million times on YouTube, features frames of the rapper with a gun in his hand.”

"When the record companies come in and say they want to do a record deal with these rappers, they want to create that aura of violence. The record labels are feeding on that.”

"Social media is very powerful. What makes it even more powerful is when the major record labels and the radio stations are pushing that violence."

Bradley praised Jay Z and Chicago-born Kanye West's track, "Murder to Excellence" for decrying violence, but added: "Radio stations don't play it. But they need to do all they can to prevent the senseless violence and killing."

“There have been other calls for more restraint from the music industry over who it chooses to promote.”

In July, the Chicago Tribune described Cozart’s as the "prince of violent Chicago rap". It noted that he had been on house arrest for a gun charge earlier this year and quoted a South Side record label director as saying that the Cozart's gun charge added to his "authenticity" in the music industry.”
50 cent waded into the debate to defend the rapper. He said the presence of guns in videos was indicative of the culture being portrayed but did not necessarily indicate criminal activity.

Macklemore is being used to paint the rest of hip-hop as 'uncivil'
If Macklemore wins Best Rap Grammy, it will only bolster the crowd using his image to demonize the rest of the rap community http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/15/macklemore-grammys-hip-hop-rap-stigma

Thanks to anti-hip-hop posturing and shallow-minded generalizations, Macklemore is being used as an example of ground-breaking "civility" for rap. A pseudo-gentrification that undermines decades of artistry hip-hop culture has provided.

We're all familiar with the stigma surrounding rap music: misogyny, homophobia, violence and drugs. Young African-American men perpetuating the violent communities they grew up in by leading other African-American men to commit crimes they hear in lyrics. And, naturally, there is always a sector of the genre that offers nothing remotely positive to society, but hip-hop is a vast genre.

For every Chief Keef promising to raise the murder rate with his new album, there's a thoughtful artist like Dee-1 donating his video budget to feed the homeless.

What if someone like Macklemore had hit it big 25 years ago? Would hip-hop have still become a genre marked by homophobia, violence and a mind-numbing obsession with weed, booze and bling? Probably.

Macklemore is the first non-homophobic, non-violent rapper in the same way that Elvis was a ground-breaking initiator of the Blues.

Some mainstream rap has veered to the materialistic and misogynistic, there have always been successful rappers who have rallied against the vapid. Believe it or not, Kanye West's ultra-successful debut album featured songs like "Jesus Walks" and "All Falls Down," which spoke out against materialism.


He’s being used as a sign post to paint the rest of hip-hop as a wholly negative influence on society.

Wednesday 15 October 2014

Research Tutorial

Mr Halsey Tutorial Feed Back

The tutorial was based on the research aspect of the media proposal and i am a little bit behind so i need to start the research we discussed as soon as possible plus I would need to dedicate 20/30 to complete research to a high standard. Additionally i would need to separate blog post for my research using the structure from the last part of the project proposal. Start with primary and secondary texts, documentaries (titles and links),  Online (articles and links), books (check shelf - at least two prefect books for my essay) and journal articles.