Music Video Analysis

Jay-Z- 99 problems analysis

99 problems is the third single released by Jay-Z on his 2004 album The Black Album. The video begins with a relationship between the lyrics and visuals when Jay-Z says'radio' and the visual of a radio is shown. There is also a relationship between the lyrics and visuals when he says he's from the 'hood' and he is shown to put up his hood which further illustrates the lyrics. There is also an intertextual reference to Jay-Z himself where he appears on a TV screen at a station. This reference suggests that Jay-Z is trying to say that he his well known in his area and where he grew up and he is sort of an icon because the screen hasd the name 'Brooklyn station' on it and that's where he is originally from. The representation of a 'gangsta' lifestyle is a genre characteristics of a hip hop video. The video shows a group of African American men loitering on the streets, getting pulled over by the police, playing basketball and doing things we would associate as criminality. This representation of African American men suggests that this is the negative view portrayed of people who live in an urban area in America. The video also shows a group of people doing street dance on the street which is another genre of a hip-hop video. There is also another relationship between the lyrics and the visuals when he says 'dollar' and makes money signs with his fingers. The reference to money in this video is one of his problems that he is rappping about and relates to the title of the song, which could be one of his problems.

There is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals when he metions'bitch' and the video cuts to a scene with scantily clad women dancing in a bikini. This suggests that he has no problems with women and doesn't want to. There aren't many close-ups of Jay-Z in the video that may be because he is an already established artists and he doesnt need much exposure and this is illustrated by his lyrics when he says 'if you don't like my lyrics you can press fast-forward'. Also Jay-Z has owns his own record label causing him to have more control over what he does in this video, than may be expected from a more mainstream/ major label. Thre is reference to the notion of looking when an x-ray vision shot of his money in the boot, here we feel we are intruding as we can see his belongings but he hasn't invited us to. There is another relationship between the lyrics and visuals when he say 'papparazzi with their cameras snapping them' this is however ironic to the visuals shown because what is shown as a couple of men who are geetting arrested and having their mugshots taken and it is unlikely for papparazzi to take pictures of criminals. There is also a stereotypical representaion of race where all the men arrested were black and a white man was shown dressed in a suit which shows him to hold more power of the black men and shows the hierarchy of power.There is another relationship between the music and the visuals the music is hard hitting and aggressive just like the visuals of the dog fighting. The sound of the beat is also emphasised and the edits are fast- paced to emphasise the aggression and choas of the hectic atmosphere of the video.

There is a relationship between the visuals and lyrics when Jay-Z says 'hit me' and he gets shot multiple times which reflects the 'gangsta' lifestyle. The video goes against the convention of a hip-hop video in some ways because it doesn't display his wealth and the lyrics don't explain his wealth from selling records. Also it doesn't show women in an entertaining way which suggests that women are only minor elemnts in video. The scocophilia treatment of women is quite uncomfortable and unnecessary which further amplifies his lyrics that the 'bitch' isn't part of his problems so he doesn't need her.