EVALUATION QUESTION #1IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP, OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS ?

By Joseph Brown

CONVENTION 1: VIDEO-USE OF BLING

• Hip-hop videos almost always include expensive items/props such as bling and jewellery. This is common as the artists like to portray and signify their status.

• The artist and other performers will wear lots of bling and show it off within the video as this shows their lifestyle.

• Expensive items such as cars/alcohol are usually shown and referenced in the video which allows the artists to show off their wealth.

• We USE this convention strongly as we feature lots of flashy bling and expensive items such as cars.

Our video features chains, watches, sports cars and expensive alcohol.

Young Thug shows off his bling in “Webbie”

Kodak Black shows off his wealth with a luxury car in “Everything 1k”

• They usually show it off my holding it to the camera and make it a prominent feature when performing

CONVENTION 2: VIDEO-USE OF FAST PACED EDITING

• Hip hop videos usually feature the use of fast paced editing to keep the video interesting.

• Common in lots of videos as the editing keeps up with the beat of the song which means the clips are constantly changing.

• This makes the video interesting and enticing for the audience as there is always something happening.

• This is especially important in performance videos as it does not feature a narrative the audience can engage with.

• It is also utilized to cut between shots that signify their wealth, status and lifestyle, such as expensive bling and cars.

• We USE this convention as we have a performance video and therefore have to meet this convention to keep it interesting.

*Effectively shown In Young Dolph “Run it up”

*Shown in Migos “Bad and Boujee”

*All continuous shots

*Our Video

CONVENTION 3: VIDEO-OTHER PERFORMERS AND EXTRAS

• Hip hop videos often feature lots of women dancing/their gang hanging around etc. with the artists in clubs/parties etc.

• Hip hop artists like to show off their status and one way to do that is by having lots of women with them at all times, reflecting the ‘Player nature’ they have.

• This reveals the credibility and status of the artist, so this is consistent in lots of videos.

• However as this degrades women and renders them meaningless, we did not want to feature that in our video.

• Therefore we use the convention that the artists ‘gang’ would be hanging around/dancing at parties etc. as this shows their strong status, popularity and power, from strength in numbers.

• We USED the convention of the artists and his ‘gang’ but CHALLENGED the convention of being with lots of women.

Our video

21 Savage “Air it out”

Gucci Mane “Stutter” (Links to first point)

CONVENTION 4: DIGIPAK-USE OF TRACKLIST ON BACK COVER

• Hip hop albums usually feature the track list on the back cover that are very simple.

• This is a common convention as the front cover usually features the artist so people are enticed to look at it.

• Audiences then look at the tracks, which is usually featured at the back as this is where most content is placed.

• The audience can look for certain songs that have been pre-released or given a sneak peek, they are automatically attracted to this through an inherited audience.

• We DEVELOP this convention as we also feature the artist on the back cover alongside the track list whilst still keeping the theme.

• This means the digipak can be less cluttered with promotions, this places the track list on the back cover, simple and bold, following the digipak theme.

Our back cover

21 Savage “Savage Mode” back cover and track list

Future “Hndrxx” Back cover and track list

CONVENTION 5: MAGAZINE-MINIMAL ALBUM PROMOTION

• Hip hop magazine covers feature minimal promotion of their album.

• Magazine covers of many artists usually feature a sort of promotion such as ratings and reviews or social media links.

• Hip hop artists have a smaller audience due to the negative connotations of such type of music and therefore their social media is not as well known, they are not watched or followed as much as ‘Pop or RnB’ artists such as Rihanna.

• Therefore there is less focus on promotion/social media and more on the artists message behind the album. They do this by using unique images/creations or by using a picture of themselves.

• An inherited audience is gained by people who actively seek out the music online and the ones who like this type of music.

• We CHALLENGE this convention as we would not only want to attract our target audience but a wider audience. We do this by putting common social media links on our magazine.

Our magazine features not only the social media links but also an image of the artist.

*Gucci Mane album magazine

*Young Thugga collab album magazine

*Both feature no social media promotion