Anaylsis of R 'n' B

R 'n' B is also known as Rhythm and Blues and was founded in the 1940's by African American music. Originally R 'n' B was only listened to by a black race, however, this genre has expanded and now people of different races. Typical musical instruments you would find in a Rhythm and Blues song is a drum kit, bass guitar, saxophone, piano, organ and vocals. Stereotypically in an R 'n' B music video men's fashion would normally be for them to be topless and wearing jeans, this is to attract the female audience to watch the music video. People in the video would normally be wearing chains and have tattoos to show a street vibe.  Women would be shown to be wearing minimal clothing to show their stomachs and cleavage, also their hair would be styled in a certain way which is eye-catching and their make up would be very defined to attract a male audience.





















One example of R 'n' B is Beyoncé and her song Crazy In Love which was released in 2003, this was soon after she had broken away from her Girl band Destiny's Child, which consisted of two other members. Beyoncé's costume was very revealing, in the opening she was wearing a loose white top, short shorts which just covered her bum and red high heels.

This is a close up of her face, this shows her make up to be very natural and not over dramatic. The close up shows her defined cheekbones,  which shows that she has a good complexion that shows of her natural beauty. This addresses the male audience because they are attracted to someone being naturally beautiful with a bit of make up rather than a women who is plastered in make up.

  This mid shot is showing her lack of clothing, the colour white represents innocence and purity. However, this contradicts itself because the top she is wearing is tight and short cut, this suggests that she isn't as innocent as seems especially as she is wearing red high heels, as seen in the picture below. The top is very revealing also, by her stomach area which shows that when she moves the audience are able to see her midriff, because her costume doesn't involve coverage it can suggest that she wants all the men to be attracted to her and wants the attention. Her body language shown in the picture above shows that she is strutting around in the street, this can suggest she is showing the street what she has got.

   The use of the colour red represents danger, power, and as being a sexual object. We are given a close up of her shoes because the audience had not yet seen a whole shot of her in what she was wearing. Normally with a pair of shorts and a top you would wear a pair of trainers or canvas shoes, however, Beyoncé is wearing high heels which shows she is different and up for a challenge. Also, it can mean the she is quite a handful as she is coming out of what a the normal outfit would look like and she shows that she is willing to break boundaries because she is 'Crazy in Love'. 

There is also many more close ups of her body parts for example her bum in her short blue shorts. This is to show that women are sexual objects and men can have them when they want. The editing of the shots are quick cutting and when we are shown Beyoncé body the shots flash to Jay Z, this suggests that she is strutting around and dressing provocatively for the male attention because she is obsessed and desperate for this man.


From 30 seconds to 48 seconds Beyoncé breaks out dancing but in a very sexual manner. The lyrics
at this part of the song are 'I look and stare so deep in your eyes, I touch you more and more every time , When you leave I'm begging you not to go, call you name two or three times in a row, such a funny thing for me to try to explain, how I'm feeling and my pride is one to blame. 'Cuz I know I don't understand, just how your love can do what no else can.' This suggests that even when the man says he is leaving she is left wanting more and doesn't want him to leave, her love is so strong that she doesn't understand it herself, she is too involved and obsessed with this man to do anything to get his attention. She is dancing for him and is wanting to give him everything she has.

The males in the music video is an accurate representation of male in a R 'n' B music videos when Beyoncé is singing about the love saving her, Jay Z appears in a shadow, we can not yet see his face and he has not been introduced to previously before either. The audience get a sense of mystery, also, the fact the in the music video we have not seen them both together it shows that she loves the chase and mystery she gets from him. We get a close up of a lighter, but we only know it is a lighter because he lights it, we then see a shot of him dropping it on the ground and the flame travels to a car, which then sets alit. This is stereotype towards his ethnicity also, because black people are associated with gang and crimes. There is a long shot shown of Jay Z looking back at the car blowing up, this could suggest that he is proud of what he has done and admiring what he has achieved. In long shot we get to see the whole of Jay Z, he is wearing all black which represents darkness which could mean he isn't good enough for Beyoncé. He is also wearing a hat which is slightly to the side to create the mystery, and to hide from Beyoncé because of her obsession. To finish off the outfit his accessories is a chain around his neck to represent a gangster look but also the chain and the watch represents his wealth.

In this music video Beyoncé is representing women stereotypically for women in the genre for R 'n' B, the song adheres to the conventions of the genre for a fast paced song as the video consists of flash cuts throughout to show the rush she has for this man. The costumes give an accurate representation as throughout the video she has been shown wearing minimal clothing and being treated as sexual objects, also her hair and make up show her beauty without it being to dramatic. The camera angles are placed in positions that give the best light for her and ways in which they make her look sexualised. The men are also represented accurately in the video, they are covered and hidden and wanting the women to come to the. He has been stereotyped to be 'gangster' and to have a poor attitude.

Another R 'n' B example is Nelly ft Kelly Rowland's song Dilemma. This music video adheres to the stereotype of the genre R 'n' B as the video is based around a black ethnicity. However, subverts the stereotype of black people in a positive way. Normally, they would be associated with violence and crime, however, in the video they are shown to be in a nice neighbourhood, with build up houses instead of the neighbourhood looking like it is in poverty. The music video type is a narrative as it shows the story of a new girl arriving on the street, wanting to be involved with Nelly but cannot pursue a relationship with him as she already has a boyfriend.

At the start of the music video Kelly appears to be wearing minimal costume from the start of the music video. The beginning of the video she is showing a lot of herself in terms of her upper body.

When she is sitting on the steps she is showing a lot of cleavage and her arms and shoulders are showing. Also, in another shot Kelly is wearing a crop top and throughout the music video she is dressed in a provocative way. In one shot she is wearing a jumpsuit, that shows all her shoulders as well as her legs. This is in the part of the story when her boyfriend is picking her up in his car. However, Nelly is also out on the streets with his friends and is watching her get into the car. Kelly's character in the music video has decided to wear this sort of clothing, so she can get the attention she wants from her neighbour across the street. Also, she has been put in all these provocative clothing to attract the male audience for more views for the music video. We can also see the other women who are out on the street are dressed in the same way as Kelly. A couple of the women are wearing backless short tops for the male attention.

The men in the video are always covered and wearing baggy clothing, similar to Beyoncé the men are also wearing sunglasses which could mean they are hiding their identity, giving the women a sense of mystery. They are also wearing gold chains and gold casings in their teeth, this shows that the men have a sense of wealth, which is further showed by the range of different expensive cars we can see in the neighbourhood such as a Land Rover and a Mercedes. However, the men can appear to be 'gangster' as the do have the chains and also Nelly has a plaster on his face which could represent that he has recently been in a fight. This could be part of the storyline as to why Kelly is attracted to him in the first place because it shows that he is a 'bad boy' and tough.



We are shown many close ups of Kelly's face this is to show her complexion in her face showing that she has a glowing look, her make up is also very natural which shows that she isn't trying to be someone she isn't by having a full face of heavy make up. Although her face make up is very natural, in some shots her mascara and eyeliner can be heavy, this is to make her eyes stand out and look bold to glimmer, for Nelly to be attracted to her.  The close ups are to show her emotions she is singing about. In the beginning, she is shown to be sad and emotional because she is wanting Nelly but cannot have him. She sings 'I love you, I need you, Nelly I love you, I do need you. No matter what I do all I think about is you, even when I'm with my boo, you know I'm crazy over you.' By having his name in the verse she letting the audience know that she is singing about Nelly and even when she is with her boyfriend she isn't really with him and is 'crazy' for Nelly. this relates back to the song title of 'Dilemma' because she has to decide who she is really happy with. 

The link above shows my last example of a R 'n' B music video. This music video was released in

2015 by The Weekend. The music video starts off with a car upside which represents the driver has
been in a car accident. As the song starts we see a man come out of the car, his ethnicity is black and stereotypically they are associated crimes. The man appears to be hurt, with blood running down his face and cuts and bruises on his hands. He gets out of the car and although he shows he is in pain he carries on showing he has the strength like a stereotypical man, he doesn't want to show the audience his pain. We are shown the cuts and bruises through a close up of his face this is so the audience can see how damaged he is and how bad the car crash was. Later he shown opening the door for the women getting out and this is considered as a gentlemen action, which is another stereotype of a man. The costume the lead male is wearing is similar to the two other videos above, all three videos show them wearing chains. Also, in this video the male appears to be wearing an earring. The use of these costume ideas show that he is trying to dress to impress the female audience, this is supported by the language he is using throughout the video, he continues to use profanity, this could suggest that he wants to act 'hard' for the audience because he thinks that the women would like someone who is rough around the edges.

When the women get out the car they are both in minimal clothing, where short cut dresses and are seen to be always behind the male lead this suggest that women are seen to be always be following him and chasing after him. Also, the women following him around suggests that they need a man to know where they are going and that they cant be by themselves.

The last part of the video he is walking along the street by himself and then enters an abandoned house. Inside the house it is completely empty, there is shattered glass on the floor and some last bits of furniture is covered in old dusty sheets. This suggests that the no one has been in there for a long time. With the low key lighting it almost makes the house look abandoned and because of his ethnicity he is associated with crimes and being a troublemaker. The questions the audience will be asking is has he broke into the house? and why is he at a random abandoned location? When he walks into the abandoned house the music changes because of the bridge. The music changes from an upbeat tune with his deep voice singing and profanity to soft piano music and his voice is a little higher, this creates more mystery for this music video because the audience can question what is happening and the change in the pitch of the music adds to that.


As the song comes to an end we can see a glow of red on his face the camera then turns to a long shot of a room with two women sitting on the bed in the sexual positions. Also, in this shot we can see that they have used red lights this is to represent the passion shown that could gone on in this scene but also maybe he his entering a danger zone. The women are also being sexualised as they are dressed provocatively, again seen in minimal clothing they are wearing lingerie.

From my research of R 'n' B music videos through the years it is clear the stereotypes have remained the same. With women always appearing to be wearing minimal clothes and men in baggy clothing, hidden, with chains. This suggests that women can be seen as devalued because of their sexual nature. The one thing that has changed is the fashion sense, women in the other two videos are wearing jeans and in the weekend video they are wearing dresses. also, the men in other two videos are wearing long basketball sort of tops whereas in this one they are bomber jackets and t shirts. Another thing which has changed in R 'n' B is the amount of profanity used, in the first two videos which were from 2002 the language was kept to a minimal. However, in the last video by The Weekend there was strong language throughout the song. In the future, I believe that women are still going to be treated as sexual objects and men are still going to be using profanity in their songs as we have seen throughout the progression of the videos above.