R&B, and Hip Hop Music Video Conventions

As we have chosen the music genre, R&B / Hip Hop. We decided to do some research on R&B and Hip Hop Music Conventions, and why they are important:

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

Performance

In an R&B/HipHop music video, performance is important. This is because this allows them to be recognized which then also markets themselves to their audiences as well as other opportuinites.An example of an R&B Hip Hop music video is by Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull:

In this music video, we can see that the mise-en-scene is clearly urban and nightlife which is also an R&B Hip Hop convention. We can also see props such as the cars, the look (make-up, clothing and accesories), and alcohol. This music video is performance based showing a lot of close-ups of the artists as well as long shot to show the artist's choreography.

Narrative

Narrative is often used as a hybrid to make the audience remember the artist's music. This narrative can be inspiring (it can be a reenactment or an abstract version of the artist's previous experience, or a story that can relate to the audience). An example of an R&B Hip Hop music video that has the music video genre of Narrative is by Lil Wayne:

In this music video, we can see that the mise-en-scene is different from the previous example; the location is hospital and alleyway which audience can see as more "sad" feeling rather than partying. The Narrative shots invite people to sympathise with the story. This is effective because the audience will remember the music video.