Textual Analysis of Music Video- Jay Z: 99 Problems

The reason for carrying out a textual analysis on this music video is because it is a good way of me understanding the sort of things that are used in music videos and the effect they have on the audience. This is a very good example of a music video and a good one to analyse because there are common themes and stereotypical iconography throughout that is good to analyse.

The main visual codes used in the music video consist of the setting. It is set in Brooklyn, New York and this is shown by shots that show iconic landmarks in Brooklyn. For example, we see Jay-Z on Brooklyn Bridge. In this shot, he is in  the centre of the framing, and therefore the central piece of the shot, this shows dominance, importance and connotes that Jay-Z 'owns' the bridge and runs the city. The shot is also a low angle, making Jay-Z look larger than he really is, and again showing dominance. The shot then tracks him, showing he is the most important thing in the shot.

Image backing up my point regarding Jay Z on Brooklyn Bridge.

As previously spoke about, camera angles help to connote different things to the audience. The low camera angles makes Jay-Z appear to be dominant, violent and powerful throughout. This makes the audience feel like he owns Brooklyn and could run the city, linking back to my previous point in the paragraph above.

Iconography is used heavily throughout the music video. There are lots of shots showing jewellery, snap backs and baggy items of clothing. This is stereotypical attire for the area which is known to be a rough location and also backs up the idea of an ethnic minority who live there (In contrast to an area such as London City which would be stereotyped to suits and smart wear).

The narrative is very dull. Straight away this could be seen from the black and white filter on the music video. This could suggest a division between races and/or suggest (due to some grey in the video) that there are grey areas between black and white people in todays society. This links back and connotes the setting, which is known to be home to the ethnic minority, having connotations to less money and less of a say in society due to others looking down on them.

Throughout the moving images are black and white throughout.

Also it makes some references throughout that black people are treated differently in society to white people. This can be heard in the song where Jay-Z raps the words 'half a million for bail, cause I'm African' suggesting that it could be more due to race.

The video starts and ends on a problem, this implies that Brooklyn is a troubled area and connotes it to not be a very nice place. This links to the song title '99 Problems'. This is the narrative throughout and links in with TODOROV's recognisable structure.

TODOROV's recognisable theory structure.

The audience for this piece is teenagers and young adults, this is evident due to the language used throughout and the sort of video that has been produced. It is very specifically targeted at a certain audience which allows the piece to reach the set target audience that it is aimed towards via platforms such as social media sites.