R&B/Hip-Hop music video conventions

After choosing our track for the music video, we dicide to do some research on R&B and HipHop music video Conventions:

Genre conventions:

R&B/HipHop artists tend to use Narrative and Performance as their music video genres:

Performance videos focus on showing footage of the artist.

In an R&B/HipHop music video, performance is quite important. Many solo artitst use choreographed dance routines to make the video more interesting (upbeat songs are more likely to have more movement). They also try to engage the viewers through the camera by using many close-up shots and gesturing. Also the use of fashionable cothing or more explicit clothing is an important way of appealing to their audience. An example of this is Pussycat Dolls - 'When I Grow Up' (it's a well-known song because of its video).

Narrative is used in this type of videos so the audience wants to know what happens next in the video. It can also create a story that the audience can relate or aspire to.

R&B female artists or groups cover a large range of emotions in their music videos. That's why thay tend to have more of a narrative perspective instead of performance.

If the video is a hybrid between performance and narrative then the solo artist often becomes part of the narrative story, acting as the narrator and the main character of the story at the same time. An example of this is Beyonce's music video 'If i were a boy'.

Target audience conventions:
R&B fans are usually  between the ages of 13-25 and a majority of this age group are females. This is because female R&B artists stereotypically make soungs about being in love/heartbroken, which appeals greatly to teenage girls. R&B songs also involve a lot of FAshion wich also attracts females.
In both R&B aand HipHop music videos, females are portrayed in a very sexual way through their outfits, dance moves and lyrics. This is something that attracts males. Men tend to be more attracted to the jewellery and depiction of wealth shown in this videos than females.
Females might find HipHop appealing because they are physically attracted to te male artists.

Conventions:
Money - References to wealth or money in R&B/HipHop music videos are very common. It tends to be rappers that have a stronger reference to money in their videos. This is a way of showing the artist's power. Money can also be shown through their possessions, such as jewellery (usually gold) and expensive sun glasses. They also use 'fast & flash' cars in their music videos as part of their image. Expensive objects make them look good to the target audience.

Women - Women are used as voyeurs in majority of R&B/HipHop music videos to add appeal to the video (ussually occurs in male artists' videos). They wear provocative outfits and have sexy dance moves.
A good example of this two conventions is Mann ft. 50 cent. - 'Buzzin'.

Men - Male artists are usually portrayed as powerful and wealthy people. However, when women use them in their music videos it tends to be in a negative way. They often use their men to express their feelings (e.g. man cheating in a relationship, how males use and abuse women, etc) as we can see in Beyonce - 'If i were a boy'. However, they are sometimes shown as positive, as shown in romantic songs.