Genre Research - Alternative Hip Hop

 Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a sub-genre of hip hop music that revolves around varieties of rap and hip hop genres. Allmusic defines it as follows:

Originating in the late-80s, in midst of the Golden age of hip hop, alternative hip hop was headed primarily by East Coast rappers such as De La Soul, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, Brand Nubian, and Digable Planets in subsidiary conjunction by West Coast acts such as The Pharcyde, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Digital Underground, Freestyle Fellowship and Jurassic 5as well as certain Southern acts such as Arrested Development, Goodie Mob, and OutKast. Similar to the alternative rock movement, alternative hip hop segued into the mainstream at the dawn of the 1990s. However, during the mid-late 90s, alternative hip hop suffered a decline in mainstream success. The situation broke way around the mid-90s with the emergence and mainstream popularity of East Coast hardcore rap artists such as Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., and Mobb Deep. Both West Coast gangsta rap and East Coast hardcore and their many derivatives subsequently became more prominent in popular music, whereas alt-rap became largely relegated to the underground scene. Following this development, many alternative rap acts eventually either disbanded or faded into obscurity.  It was in the 2000s that alternative hip hop reattained its place within the mainstream, due in part to the declining commercial viability of gangsta rap as well as the crossover success of artists such as OutKast, Kanye West, and Gnarls Barkley.  Industry observers view the 2007 sales competition between Kanye West's Graduation and 50 Cent's Curtis as a turning point for hip hop. West emerged the victor, selling nearly a million copies in the first week alone. 

Narrative Storyboard - Little Red Riding Hood

Above we have adapted the narrative of the typical Red riding hood storyboard  which has the  features of a conventional story, using an Equilibrium, the Disruption, Recognition, Solution and finally the New Equilibrium.       Here we have distorted the storyline making to make it suitable for a music video, the narrative is unclear but the characters qualities are still present so that you can decipher between each one. The location used will be the same one used in the original story, the costumes for each character will be typical everyday wear combined with a stereotypical rock theme of ripped clothes and dark colours. All together the story board uses a range of shots and angles in the same location to create a sense of enigma, the characters are all placed in the same frame but at different times the narrative is completely different and far more interesting, these unique elements make a music video worth watching.

The Fleurbelles

This is a mind map discussing our band called The Fleurbelles, above we have analysed each point thoroughly and come up with different strategies on how we are going to promote and sell our band, in order to do this we have discovered the target age group, discus their likes and dislikes and tried to cater to their needs in our style and music. We have talked about what venues we are going to be gigging at how we can spread our name around by going to visiting local organisations. Moreover we have also talked about a fashion collaboration we are going to do which will help promote our name and the band itself. Similarly we have also started social networking sites and made music video accounts called Vevo which really show off our videos and keep fans up to date with the latest news and releases. The mind-map was a very useful way of displaying our ideas and the keys points really allowing us to get a feel of what a real fan would be like so we can make sure our music is perfect for them.

Music Video Case Study

The video can't for "Can't Me Tell Me Nothing" displays typical conventions of a hip hop video but also elements from other media texts and original ideas. The video is very performance based which is typical in most hip hop videos because it helps to emphasise the delivery of the lyrics.  The video is shot entirely in the wide plane of a desert and the mise en scene is extremely minimal which helps to emphasise the performance of West because he is the sole focus of the shot and is visually pleasing, especially when shot in wide shot. The video is also predominately shot in mid shot because it allows the audience to see West's facial expressions and gestures when performing which is another typical convention of hip hop videos. One thing that is particularly challenging about the way the video is shot is how instead of relying on editing to switch between different shots and angles, the camera actually stays on West but instead of shooting only shot or angle, it stays moving so it allows more than one angle and shot type in the same sequence without the use of editing. This is one of the experimental ideas used in the video which has not been typically been used in hip hop videos prior.




The video for "Pe$o" is a more stereotypical hip hop video. The video is shot in the streets of New York which is a typical convention for a hip hop video. The performance of the song is very brash and aggressive which emphasizes the mood of the song and also makes the video entertaining for the audience. Another typical convention used is the use of extras in the video. Almost every scene shows Rocky performing with at least 2 or 3 people behind him also mimicking the lyrics of the song, at some points there are up to 15 people. This is usually used in hip hop videos because it shows the audience that the rapper is never alone and can be sometimes used to strike an element of fear in the audience but is usually used to send a sense of threat to other rappers. The editing style varies throughout the video, at some points one scene can last up to 10 seconds before running through 3 or 4 shots in 5 seconds through quick editing. This is usually used at a certain point in the song, because the quick editing matches the pace of the song. The majority of the video is shot using mid-shot, particularly when there is only one person on screen. However, a long shot is usually used when there is a group of people on screen. This is used so that everyone on screen can be seen clearly. Another editing technique used is the use of slow motion. During the chorus of the song, every shot is slow motion which is used because of the need for attention to detail. Most of the slow motion shots are close ups of either people's faces or miscellaneous things on location, e.g street signs, shoes, cars etc. There is also a lack of clothing in multiple scenes where the camera focuses on tattoos on the bodies of the people in the shot which could be to emphasise gang culture which is a big part of hip hop music. The lack of clothing could also be to appeal to a female audience also (male gaze reversed) which could refer to voyeurism in music videos.




The video for "Make Her Say" is one that relies heavily on editing techniques. The video is very visually pleasing because of the editing techniques used. The video starts off with a reflective shot of balloons in the sky before switching to a horizontal split screen which then goes on to be a theme of the video throughout. The screen is usually split between to of the same location but featuring different people, usually the artist performing and a female. Sometimes the two split screen with feature the same exact shot except one might be a close up and the other a mid shot. Another feature is the use of perpendicular movements. Usually the two split screens will be moving in opposite directions to each other, whether it be from the camera movements or two people walking in different directions which could be a nod to theme of juxtaposition in the video. Another feature of the video is the colour schemes. The video is more or less split into 3 sections (1 for each performer) and each section has it's own colour scheme through location, clothing, mise en scene etc. The first section features a lot of light colours e.g. light blue, orange yellow. These colours are displayed through shots of the sky, the balloons the windows in the loft & the clothing. The second section features more solid monotone colours e.g. grey, blue & green displayed through clothing, the colours of the seats & the grass on the field. The third contains different shades of the same colour e.g. brown, light brown, beige. Although the third section displays the same windows the were used in the first third of the video.

Mood Board

Schedule

Today is Tuesday 19th November, 2013. Weather status: Partly cloudy

21st November 2013 - Organise locations + location photos
22nd November 2013 - Cast photos/costume ideas
26th November 2013 - Feedback from audience
27th November 2013 - Begin shooting (Minimum 7 days shooting)

Album Covers Research

              JAY Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne

  

                     Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon 2 

                  Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon 

                   Michael Jackson (RIP) - Thriller 

  

                                  Dr. Dre - The Chronic

                      
              
                         NWA - Straight Outta Compton

  

                             Lana Del Rey - Born To Die

    

                         2 Chainz - Based On A T.R.U Story

                                        Nas - Illmatic

                             Tyler, the Creator - GOBLIN

                      Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak

     

Influential Music Videos

Kanye West Ft. Kid Cudi - Welcome To Heartbreak

I was particularly influenced because of the editing style. The video adopts a glitch art approach and is meant to resemble the playback of a broken VHS tape. The editing helps the video flow well despite the distorted effects, by joining each movement of the artist to the next movement . This is done by the glitched areas of the video forming to create the face or performance of the artist. The performance of the artists are also very good which help to emphasize the lyrics of the song and make the video visually pleasing for the audience. Goodwin's theory could also be applied to this video because some of the lyrics match the visual effects of the video

WZRD - Teleport 2 Me, Jamie


Like "Welcome To Heartbreak", the video for "Teleport 2 Me, Jamie" is aided by good visual effects and performance of the artists. The video is particularly slow paced to match the pace of the song which
is a deliberate editing decision. The use of colourization and the use of fluorescent colours like pink and purple reflect the electronica elements of the song and create an almost synesthesia effect in the video which is aesthetically pleasing for the audience. The performance of Kid Cudi also adds to the video. His performance portrays a lot of emotion which reflects the themes of love and pain in the song. This is a typical convention for rock songs and makes viewing more enjoyable for the audience.

Star Image - Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey (Elizabeth Grant) is an American born singer-songwriter. She has become very successful over the last 2 years thanks to her album Born To Die which has sold nearly 5 million copies worldwide. Aswell as her music, her unique image & persona is what has given her much appeal. She does not adopt the immediate style & image of a 21st century pop star (over exposed media attention, over sexualised videos etc.) Instead her star image comes in the form of a very vintage 1950/60s American approach, both in her music & the way she presents herself (street style, music videos, live performances etc.) 

Another element in the appeal of Lana Del Rey is the sense of mystery. She is not someone who is reluctant to media attention but unlike many other female pop stars, not much is known of her past or where she really came from before the sudden rise to fame. This sense of mystery intrigues many people, who believe this mystery is the center of her massive appeal and is what makes her one of the most talked about female artists right now.