Friday 12 December 2014

Task 3

Historical Text
The Specials
The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 Tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rock steady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups. The band wore mod-style "1960s period rude boy outfits (pork pie hats, tonic and mohair suits, and loafers)." In 1980, the song "Too Much Too Young", the lead track on their The Special AKA Live! EP reached number one in the charts. In 1981, the unemployment-themed single "Ghost Town" also hit number one in the UK Singles Chart.
How is it similar/different to your main text?
It is similar to my text as it is a music video. It is also similar to my text, because it is not the normal mainstream track which everyone would normally listen to. The songs are also about money, or the lack of it.
The difference between these two texts are that The Specials' song had a meaning to it, and the main reason for the song was to inform people, but Nines' track was to entertain.
How does this show how the genre/society/issue has changed?
The genre is obviously different to rap, but the issues and society have remained the same. This is because; the song “Ghost town” Was about unemployment and riots. This taps into a lot of rap songs, especially Chip’s SBTV F64 where does talk about unemployment. Also, both songs came out after riots which mean those riots may have the reason those songs came out, with those particular lyrics.
I think the society between 2011 and 1981 has changed a lot. But in regards to the riots, they were rioting for the same things, unemployment and the treatment of black people.

N.W.A
How is it similar/different to your main text?
Both texts are rap music that provide a negative connotation due to their content of their lyrics and what most of their lyrics are about.
Obviously, the time and also the place are factors that cause it to be different. Also, the genre of rap now has a larger following than ever before, meaning more and more people have seen the videos and heart the content of the music in this time. This causes more opinions to be thrown out.

How does this show how the genre/society/issue has changed?
Both texts are the genre of rap. N.W.A is arguably the pioneers of rap music and the negative representation of women and the glorification of drugs and money. Rap music now is the same. Women, drugs and money are seen to be a good thing to aspire to, just like music in 2014.
The difference in society is that it isn’t just N.W.A or an equivalent, but there are much more artists and groups and gangs which means there is larger rumours of violence in the tracks and more people listen to rap now than before.

Monday 8 December 2014

Task 2

References
Ferguson, R. (1998). Representing "race": Ideology, identity, and the media. London: Arnold.
Gauntlett, D. (2002). Media, gender, and identity: An introduction. London: Routledge.
Lacey, N. (1998). Image and representation: Key concepts in media studies. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Malik, S. (2002). Representing black Britain a history of black and Asian images on British television. London: SAGE Publications.


Perry, I. (2004). Prophets of the hood: Politics and poetics in hip hop. Durham: Duke University Press.

Wingwood, G M. (2003). Prospective Study of Exposure to Rap Music Videos and African American Female Adolescents’ Health [http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.93.3.437]

Johnson. J D. (1995). Differential gender effects of exposure to rap music on African American adolescents' acceptance of teen dating violence
[http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01544683#page-2]

Brown, J D. (2006)Sexy Media Matter: Exposure to Sexual Content in Music, Movies, Television, and Magazines Predicts Black and White Adolescents' Sexual Behavior

[http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/117/4/1018.short]

 DuRant R H. (1997). Tobacco and alcohol use behaviors portrayed in music videos: a content analysis. [http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.87.7.1131]





Media Magazine Notes and quotes
Media Magazine: Issue 36
“Rap began as a social commentary created by young urban artist who spoke of the hardships of life in a still largely racist environment.” The quote shows the origination of rap music and how rap music was like in the past. It also gives an idea to what it was like and how/why it was created. The question I could use from this quote is “is rap music still like that?” If not, then why, and what is it about now and has it been showing a negative representation of youth then as well as now.

“ The work of NWA for example was confrontational dealing with issues such as racial profiling and police brutality unlike the rap designed to have broad appeal, epitomised by the chart topping success of Vanilla Ice in the late 1980s” This quote shows the two types of rap music as the genre of rap is very large. It is essential that different rappers, who are in different stages of their careers, will rap about different subjects in order to sell and not speak the truth. An example of this is Nines (whom has spoken the truth so far in his lyrics), and Chip (who came from a grime background, who went into the pop rap in order to sell).

 “There was a spate of urban riots in UK cities in 1981 with 'Ghost Town' voicing hopelessness of life deprived urban environments. The riots had a racial element and The Specials were one of many groups who continued to speak out against far-right political activism and attempted to present the values of cultural diversity within their music” This shows, that it wasn't just rap music that was used to get a point across, however they were not condemned by the government to an extent black youth and rappers are. Why is that? Maybe because there was no swearing or it was an a typical genre and it had a mixture of both black and white people in their band.

Media Magazine: Issue 45

“Lil Ze in City of God and Hubert in La Haine are both drug dealers. Lil Ze is a typical crime film villain; the audience watches his rise to the top, followed by his subsequent decline and death. He is violent and psychotic, with no remorse for his actions or sympathy for his victims. He is a cocaine dealer, rapist and gang leader; out of control, hungry for power and desperate to control the favela.”

This quote show that there is a negative representation of black people, which has be projected on to probably the most mainstream platform, film. This supports my statement because a white writer of City of God, Braulio Mantovani has used those stereotypes in his movie. However, this may not be the case as “The favelas were initially created to house freed slaves, and therefore black people are massively over-represented in this setting.”


Media Magazine: Issue 35
“It has been argued that films and media like this indicate that: the working class itself has been dehumanised – now to be feared and simultaneously served up as entertainment Cruddas, quoted in Harris, 2006 'It has been argued that films and media like this indicate that: the working class itself has been dehumanised – now to be feared and simultaneously served up as entertainment Cruddas,' quoted in Harris, 2006” The majority of black youths living on estate fall into this category, which means this quote may show that black youth are dehumanised and feared. This is a representation that is given for them.

“On the other hand, two more recent films have shown the council estate youth in a slightly more positive light. Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009) and Attack the Block, left (Joe Cornish, 2011) feature protagonists who may look and sound like stereotypical chavs, but who are revealed to be creative, loyal, fiercely independent and resourceful young people who are a product of their environment” This quote opposes my statement, as black youth in Attack the block are represented in a better manner. It shows we can’t tar every black person with the same brush. However, black youth may be seen in this way, because Joe Cornish who came from a council estate, may be giving a alternative representation because he knows the truth behind how council estates are. And he may believe it is being misrepresented which caused an uproar with people who believe they are good for nothing.

“As with so many other youth movements – from mods to rockers, hippies and emos – popular music has undoubtedly had a significant role to play in creating and perpetuating the iconic image of the chav. British artists such as N-Dubz have been referred to as chavs; Dappy in particular, with his stringy hat and controversial brushes with the law, conforms to the typical idea of the aggressive, rude and almost comical image of the chav.”

As a result of the representation of rappers, people who listen to certain musicians get tarred with the same brush, which means people that listen to N Dubz are classed as chavs, aggressive and rude.


Media Magazine: Issue 41
“Struggling with depression and teenage woes is enough for me to record hundreds of songs. I’ve learnt not to care if people don’t understand the music, because I know they will feel it.”
This quote shows that a lot of rappers just rap how they are feeling and what they do. This is the equivalent to a blog, but maybe on a larger scale.

“Nevertheless, I can’t say all my music makes sense to those who listen to it. It still holds a sense of mystery as to what goes into the creative process (hence the name of my forthcoming debut album Super Arkane). And the one question I’m asked in every interview or by those who hear my raps always seems to be, ‘What inspires you to write?’”
This shows that rappers music is not made to make sense to other people, or fit the social protocol, but it is written in order for those rappers to get down their thoughts and ideas.








Monday 1 December 2014

Task 1

Nines Money on my mind

Semiotics- pouring “Ace of spades” drink onto the floor. Connotation may be he is rich enough to do so, as he is known as a rich guy in his area. Also a sign used by many people (libation), pouring alcohol on the floor for the dead or incarcerated. The pouring of the whole bottle may mean he has a lot of friends who has died and a lot of friends in prison (Backed up by “RIP Zino, his blood brother, and “free Cash” one of his friends in prison). Another sign was when he throws the bottle on the floor breaking it.In the music video, there was a lot of tracksuits, a typical garment of a gangster, and a lot of designer clothes. There was also a lot of chains swinging from most of the people in the video, implying they are quite rich. There were a few props which were used deliberately, such as the sports cars(Ferrari and aston Martin) and the expensive alcohol(ace of spades). The gestures included gang signs and use of the middle finger whilst posing for pictures. The music video was set on the estate the rapper lives on.

This video was non hollywood, and was promoted with the rapper himself and the people affiliated with him.The music video was shot by SBTV, a music video youtube channel run by Jamal Edwards. It was distributed on Youtube. The ethics were manipulation and reconstruction.

The genre was rap. It was slower than grime, and included a hook which was sung. The general themes to this music is drugs, money and women this was no different. The characters in the music video were gangsters and young thugs

Gender is represented as the video show women as objects and the men as thugs. Also, it represents ethnic minorites as negative characters who do not do anything but hang out on the estate. It can be portrayed as a negative representation as not all youth ethnic minorities do that, but it also can be positive, because the video was created by people of youth ethnic minorities it seems like they may be giving a representation which is fairer than an institions whom are white and older   

Target audience is youth ages 15-25, whom are male and either black or of an ethnic minority. They are working classed, who live on estates. The type of things they are into are sports money and music. This music video fulfils the normal rap video that these people would listen to. People listening to this would be trying to escape their lifestyle, or seeing if this type of music identifies them. A theory could be the hypodermic needle model. Also moral panics.

Ideology and values were the music was pro crime and the values were negative due to the lyrics and the content.


Social 
Single parent families and families without father figures take this music more literally than others.


Historical
9/11 made people more aware of terrorism

Economical 
Working class poorer people are more likely to listen and take these videos in the wrong manner. The reccession also made the working classed black people become poorer, which causes them to move to crime and music as it is a way to make fast money if you are good at it.

Political 
The government are not fans of this music, but like the show as it is a way of "dry snitching" Also how the riots were shown all over TV as main news headlines caused readers and viewers to take a political stand point due to way the riots were publicised in and around the UK