Textual analysis, Ride Wit Me –Nelly.
Genre Characteristics-
There are quite a few conventional characteristics in this video the first one I noticed was the iconic clothing that rappers are stereotyped to wear, baggie clothes and ‘bling’ Nelly is wearing both of these things and so conforms to the genre well. The ‘bling’ symbolises wealth and that Nelly is doing well for himself so he can afford to wear big expensive jewellery shown in this video, but isn’t too big for his boots as he is still dressed casually as to keep fans happy so they feel they can relate to him as a person because he appears to be just like them. Nelly also has tattoos in his video which is another conventional characteristic to find in rappers as it makes them seem more aggressive and ‘street’.
Another popular characteristic to find in rappers is big body language to make them appear to have authority and look more masculine Nelly follows in this pattern in the video and he rolls his arms and waves them about constantly throughout the video whilst looking up towards the sky to symbolise how high up on the chain he is and how he has made it to be as successful as he is.
In the lyrics of this song Nelly talks about smoking drugs- this is a typical association with rappers and is supported by Nelly with the use of these lyrics.
There are quite a few conventional characteristics in this video the first one I noticed was the iconic clothing that rappers are stereotyped to wear, baggie clothes and ‘bling’ Nelly is wearing both of these things and so conforms to the genre well. The ‘bling’ symbolises wealth and that Nelly is doing well for himself so he can afford to wear big expensive jewellery shown in this video, but isn’t too big for his boots as he is still dressed casually as to keep fans happy so they feel they can relate to him as a person because he appears to be just like them. Nelly also has tattoos in his video which is another conventional characteristic to find in rappers as it makes them seem more aggressive and ‘street’.
Another popular characteristic to find in rappers is big body language to make them appear to have authority and look more masculine Nelly follows in this pattern in the video and he rolls his arms and waves them about constantly throughout the video whilst looking up towards the sky to symbolise how high up on the chain he is and how he has made it to be as successful as he is.
In the lyrics of this song Nelly talks about smoking drugs- this is a typical association with rappers and is supported by Nelly with the use of these lyrics.
What is the relationship between lyrics and visuals?
Again with this video the lyrics are illustrative to the visuals and all flow smoothly. The song is called ‘ride wit me’ and is about Nelly picking up girls so it is fitting that the expensive cars and trucks are a prominent feature in this video, along with lots of women surrounding the men in the video- This is also done to once again show Nelly’s popularity through his video. The lyrics and beat of the track is upbeat and so the video complements this as the video is also light hearted and fun for his fans to watch.
Again with this video the lyrics are illustrative to the visuals and all flow smoothly. The song is called ‘ride wit me’ and is about Nelly picking up girls so it is fitting that the expensive cars and trucks are a prominent feature in this video, along with lots of women surrounding the men in the video- This is also done to once again show Nelly’s popularity through his video. The lyrics and beat of the track is upbeat and so the video complements this as the video is also light hearted and fun for his fans to watch.
What is the relationship between music and visuals?
The music is very light for the rap genre as typically we associate rap with having a heavy beat but this track is much of the opposite and the visuals show this, because the song is upbeat there are women in the video dancing provocatively along to the song which keeps the theme behind the music and lyrics present when watching the video.
The music is very light for the rap genre as typically we associate rap with having a heavy beat but this track is much of the opposite and the visuals show this, because the song is upbeat there are women in the video dancing provocatively along to the song which keeps the theme behind the music and lyrics present when watching the video.
Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?
There are a few close-ups of Nelly at the beginning when he is lying in a hammock singing to the camera, this has been done at the beginning to entice his fans into watching the rest of the video as they don’t have to wait till half way through the video to see his face like some music videos do- This helps Nelly’s ‘real’ image also, further into the video there are close-ups of Nelly’s face showing him to have a more aggressive look on his face and moving his arms around in an aggressive manner to the beat of the song this is a typical convention of the rap genre and the close-up was used to show this clearly in the video. Nelly doesn’t use any star image motifs in this particular video and this could be because we see him a lot throughout the whole video so using star image motifs isn’t as necessary as it would be in a video where you don’t see the artist as much.
Is there reference to the notion of looking?
Yes. In this video the notion of looking is a prime feature at regular intervals in the video, with women dressed up dancing in slow motion into the camera this is used so that the target audience for Nelly’s videos (young males) with enjoy the video and want to carry on watching, Also women are shown regularly throughout the video as they are included in the lyrics with lyrics like “Lookin for a little shorty hot and horny so that I can take home” so to make the video illustrative along with the lyrics of the song it only makes sense for there to be a lot of females in the video, not only is it for the entertainment purpose of the video but also for Nelly’s image as an artist he wants to come across as one of these high profile rap artists who is making lots of money and getting lots of ladies and this is the perfect way to demonstrate that.
There are a few close-ups of Nelly at the beginning when he is lying in a hammock singing to the camera, this has been done at the beginning to entice his fans into watching the rest of the video as they don’t have to wait till half way through the video to see his face like some music videos do- This helps Nelly’s ‘real’ image also, further into the video there are close-ups of Nelly’s face showing him to have a more aggressive look on his face and moving his arms around in an aggressive manner to the beat of the song this is a typical convention of the rap genre and the close-up was used to show this clearly in the video. Nelly doesn’t use any star image motifs in this particular video and this could be because we see him a lot throughout the whole video so using star image motifs isn’t as necessary as it would be in a video where you don’t see the artist as much.
Is there reference to the notion of looking?
Yes. In this video the notion of looking is a prime feature at regular intervals in the video, with women dressed up dancing in slow motion into the camera this is used so that the target audience for Nelly’s videos (young males) with enjoy the video and want to carry on watching, Also women are shown regularly throughout the video as they are included in the lyrics with lyrics like “Lookin for a little shorty hot and horny so that I can take home” so to make the video illustrative along with the lyrics of the song it only makes sense for there to be a lot of females in the video, not only is it for the entertainment purpose of the video but also for Nelly’s image as an artist he wants to come across as one of these high profile rap artists who is making lots of money and getting lots of ladies and this is the perfect way to demonstrate that.
Is it performance based? Narrative based? Or concept based?
I think that it is more performance based this video as for the majority of it we see Nelly dancing and rapping into the camera and also there are a few shots of him with other rappers/friends dancing along to the beat this is all to entertain the fans and to give the audience what they want which is to see their favourite artist up and close singing the new favourite song right to them.
I think that it is more performance based this video as for the majority of it we see Nelly dancing and rapping into the camera and also there are a few shots of him with other rappers/friends dancing along to the beat this is all to entertain the fans and to give the audience what they want which is to see their favourite artist up and close singing the new favourite song right to them.
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