Genre & Subculture

The song which I have chosen with my group is “its ok” by Christina Aguilera, the genre of the music is soul pop, and this is a slow moving song about love and heartbreak. I believe my target audience will be able to emphasis with it and be able to share the same feelings or experiences with the artist. The genre of the music says it all before even listening to the song, as majority of the songs within the genre of soul pop is slow and not upbeat. The subculture which I have chosen are young females aged 16 to 25 years old, the reason for this is because young females are more likely to listen to songs about sadness and love, in order to relate to the artist.

An artist who includes genre and subculture in their music video is a female artist Paloma Faith, she is a 35 year old singer and songwriter. Paloma’s appearance shows a lot about herself, the way she dresses, her make up and her hairstyle shows the audience what she is all about. She loves the quirky and funky look and tries to express her quirkiness through her costumes which she wears in her videos. She is half white and half Spanish, by observing her she has a more English side to her than Spanish which says a lot about her as an individual. Paloma has very strong values which have always been about making her mother happy, she has had a very multi-cultural upbringing and therefore she see’s everyone as equal in society. Growing up she was well behaved and was quiet, and held strong feminist values which till this day she continues to hold.  Paloma was signed by producers from Lateral Management, as they saw potential in her. Her first album reached number 9 on the UK charts and later was awarded double platinum

Her song “Only love can hurt like this” talks about how it is difficult to be apart from her lover as much as she tries to end things and move on she just can't. The style and length of the music video is just about right, the whole style to the music video had an edge to it emphasising her love through sexual admiration with her lover. The different costumes worn in the music video expresses different scenes used in the video. The editing which is used links well with the song, as it is in pace with the scenes changing making the length of the video just right to tell her story. The mise-en-scene articulated in the beginning of the scene which captures Paloma running under the bridge in the rain, this portrays what the song may be about giving the audience an understanding of what there is to come. The costume worn emphasises the song as it expresses comfort and love, which she tries to link with her lyrics. This mise-en-scene repeats itself through the music video where she expresses her story to the audience but through her singing.

The music video is located in two different places, one of which is placed on the streets under the bridge in the rain, which portrays the whole scene about what the genre of the music may be and what the music will emphasise. Another location used is a bedroom which captures Paloma and her lover getting intimate, linking her lyrics to her music video to tell her story. The camera shots and angles used shows every scene of her and her partner getting intimate and expressing her pain. The camera uses a lot of medium and long shots to show the audience what is going on, by having different shots shows the artists facial expressions and shoes what she is trying to get across to her audience. In her video only one character is involved and that is her partner, showing intimacy between both of them which links to her lyrics being sung. Her character is a dark skin character which shows the audience that she disagrees with discrimination in race, culture, ethnicity and colour. The colour and lightning is used very well, the whole concept of the video links well. The camera lighting mainly focuses on the artist and her character to show that they are the main focus. Having the right lighting and colour is vital for the audience to find the music video arresting and interesting. Star image is used widely throughout the music video by having the camera make the artist centre of attention so she can tell her story one to one and have that connection with her audience to talk about her experience of love and pain, which really shows through in the video.

Another artist who includes subculture and genre is Sam Smith, who is a young male artist aged 23 year olds. He is an English singer and songwriter who has come a long way in his career. He is a young English man who was born and brought up in England. Sam Smith’s image is very sophisticated and elegant, he represents himself very well by wearing suits, casual smart clothes which reflects on his song as his song is all about love, heartbreaks etc. Sam shows he has matured from his past experience, and has become bigger and better by making himself representable. He believes that no matter what life throws at you, always get back up and be even stronger than before. He stated in the 2015 Grammys Award “I would like to thank the man that I fell in love with last year - the man who this album is about. Thank you so much for breaking my heart, because you got me four Grammys!” thanking his ex-boyfriend who broke his heart. Sam Smith was signed by the Capitol Records and was featured on the Disclosure song ‘Latch’ which had a huge hit and was number 11 on the UK singles chart. In 2013 he sold his first single from his debut album ‘Lay me down.’ He was nominated six Grammy Awards in 2015.

Sam Smith’s song ‘I’m not the only one’ is about being cheated on and being heartbroken, the whole music video is a narrative based music video which tells the story of the artist’s experience. The style of the music video used is very retro as you can tell from the costume worn, hairstyle and the props used, for example, the old fashion car that is used; which says a lot about the whole concept of the music video. The length of the music video explains the story within 4 minutes and 40 seconds, the video begins off as a movie showing both characters opposite binary interacting with each other, which can intrigue the audience. Within the music video the editing plays through as the different scenario changes to show different locations of the characters within the music video and without them using any effects as the story says it all. 

The mise-en-scene used in the beginning of the music video, emphasises the 60’s look by the props, costume and location used. This expresses the music video very well, although the artist is not within the music video he has three cast members in order to act his story for the audience to not only hear but to visually see it. There is more than one location which the music video is implemented in, one of which is posh gated area, the pub, back yard, in the car and the shop. There are many different locations used in order to link the lyrics used with the music video, showing how the story elaborates through not only the song but the locations used. 

Star image is not majorly used in the music video except now and again, which shows the artist singing on a stage with red curtains as a backdrop, making the artist the main focus. There are 3 characters included in the video which shows binary opposition with all three characters, the whole story includes 3 people who act the story of an affair happening, hence, the name of the song which is called ‘I’m not the only one’. The characters express the story through actions used and facial expressions. Camera shots and angles change on numerous occasions, from medium shots to long shots throughout the video which expresses how each individual character feels. Also by using long and medium shots of the artist to emphasise how the artist feels. Colour and lightning is well used throughout the video, as each location emphasises a different feel to the music video. When the camera focuses on Sam, a dim spotlight is used which is directed at him to make him centre of attention. This also includes the lights being green to portray the intimacy between both characters. The colour range used is articulated very well within the music video, creating a mixture of feelings and changing the atmosphere of the music video.

The last artist I will be talking about is 44 year old Mary J Blige, who is a very well-known female artist. She is a Black American model, singer, song writer and actress, who takes on a lot of roles as an individual. She was born and bought up in America who did not have a great past and was involved in a lot of bad things. She overcame this by pursuing her career and taking the opportunity to follow her father’s footsteps, as he was also a Jazz musician. Mary J Blige’s personality shows through her appearance, from the way she dresses and represents herself like a replicate of Whitney Houston back in the days. Her hairstyle emphasises her genre of music which she produces, which is soul pop. She represents herself as classy and elegant. CEO music label signed Mary J Blige at the age of 18, she was known as the first youngest female artist that CEO had signed. Uptown Records sold her first debut album which had everyone including famous artists at the edge of their seat, as they fell in love with her voice and her passion for music.

In her music video of ‘No more drama’ she talks about letting go of the pain you’re holding and being drama free. This insinuates what she may have gone through, and is expressing this through her music. The style of the music video shows a young boy being stabbed whilst his friends surround him and feel his pain. The scene then changes to an older male arguing with his wife and abusing her. Overall, Mary J Blige’s music video talks about the different pains individuals go through whether this is abuse, self-harming or murder. Her style of music is a narrative based video which links to her background as she was doing drugs and alcohol too at a very young age and this is emphasised through the video. The editing used shows each story line of the video, showing each location which portrays what some people go through in society; including the transition effect which is shown in the beginning of the video of 3 different characters body parts (head, main body and legs) joined together to form one body. The location used in the video varies as there is different scenarios added into the video such as the streets, a room, alleyway, house and a phone box. Each location is used to explain the whole concept of the song for the audience to understand and be aware of what goes on around in today’s society. She repeats in her video ‘no more drama’ saying for every drama to end. However, this is seen in 3 different perspectives from the characters point of view. Camera shots used within the music video are medium and long shots throughout, this expresses to the audience how the artist feels as well as to show the characters facial expression to emphasise what they are going through. The characters used tell each scene of the story, and is not just shown through one person’s point of view. It includes every character showing what some may go through on a day to day basis which we may not know about. The costume worn by the characters show what social class they may be from, as it does not have to be from a specific class for someone to have such issues like this.

Colour and lightning throughout the video is very dull and portrays the sadness of the song, it articulates the whole scenario and forms a certain atmosphere for the audience. Although the camera does focus on the artist throughout, majority of the time it shows the colour black and few other colours which are also included. Instead of there being a spotlight focusing on the artist, the camera is directly aimed at Mary, in order to make sure that although she is the narrator, the scenes itself have to speak for itself and tell its story from each characters point of view. The mise-en-scene used in the beginning of the music video shows the story of a young boy being stabbed as his friends surround him and grieve for him. She emphasises this through the lyrics stating ‘broken heart again, another lesson learned’ telling the audience that you should learn from your first mistake and not make the mistake again, which is represented through the young boy’s perspective. No props are used to portray the mise-en-scene, except the costume and facial expressions that are used. The costume worn by the characters show that they maybe from an urban area, and don’t have the best of influences in their area. Not only that the facial expression used in this scene shows devastation and anger as all the characters show their frustration and sadness through the use of their facial expressions. Star image is portrayed during the duration of the whole music video; the camera gives a great focus of the artist herself as she expresses her feelings through her tears which is shown on camera. This interprets that she has a soft heart and has gone through so much pain and grief, and the audience can connect to her through her lyrics.