Textual Analysis Jay-Z & Kanye West - Ni**as In Paris (Explicit) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG_dA32oH44
The music video that I will be analysing is Ni**as in Paris by Jay-Z & Kanye West, Firstly this video is a performance video; The image that both artists are trying to convey is what the experience would be like if the public went to see them live, I feel as if the main reason why this video has been made was to promote themselves and try and encourage the public to buy there tickets. These two artists are world wide stars and are always touring in order to populate there fan base, this also is an attempt to do just that. Both artists are performing their own song to a large crowd during a concert, as you can see the audience in the video are all enjoying themselves, this is shown through various close ups of individual people in the crowd, everyone is happy, smiling and having fun which is what the artists are trying to portray about their live performances. There are many females in the crowd, there are close ups of some in very little clothing and also showing a lot of cleavage, this is a convention of the hip hop/rap genre as the artists like to think that the women shown in the video thinks they are attractive, as well as all of this it attracts the male audience as well, linking to voyeurism and exhibitionism. The fact that the strobe lights are flashing down onto the crowd also show this as you are able to see everyone’s arms in the air, this is a clear sign that they are enjoying the music. Many editing techniques have been used within this music video, different editing effects have been used throughout, for example a symmetrical effect has been used to create an illusion, and this can also connote drug use. Another key element in this video is the lighting; as you can see in the image above blue lights are used, blue is seen as a masculine colour, this has been done because its seen as more of a masculine song, and also that both artists are male. This has been done to allow the audience to create a visualisation of what it would be like being there. Other images are added such as a lion, this has been done to connote danger and that the two artists are not to be messed with, a lion is also a very dominant animal, it hunts and kills in order to survive, this can be related to the artists as they have been brought up in a rough part of America were they have been involved with gangs, causing trouble in their childhood. As well as this the lion is also seen as this king, which can link to the artists as they are very popular and well known in the music industry. This has also been added with a lion roar sound effect. Both artists are wearing all black, this separates them from the crowd because everyone else is wearing smart/casual clothes. Both are also wearing a lot of jewellery mainly chains and rings, this is
typical in the hip hop/rap genre of music videos because it connotes wealth and wealth connotes power. This can also then link to the lion being shown in the video regularly. Many high angled shots have also been used in order to show the importance of each artist. As well as this low angled shots have been used to show the crowds perspective.