99 problems essay.

In what ways are the traditional aspects of the hip-hop genre are broken or re-made in the music video for ‘99 problems’?

 

Jay Z’s ’99 problems’ music video was produced and released by Mark Romanek in 2004 which was a very controversial video at the time as it broke many of typical conventions or a rap/hip-hop genre video which is most probably what made the video and single such a success and remain significant to viewers, in particular to an audience who would have never listened to hip-hop music. The music video aimed to illustrate the struggles that Jay Z went through growing up in Brooklyn, New York whilst trying to pursue his career and elevate his position in the industry.

To begin with, the abstract representations of people, cultural elements and social problems deviate from the original representations of the hip-hop genre. For example when a rapper aims to show off their wealth, they use many expensive cars, flashy jewellery, name-brand clothing and alcohol in many close up shots such as in the ‘I Get Money’ video by 50 Cent which is a direct way of displaying their wealth. In the ‘’99 problems’’ video, one of his aims is to represent how disproportionately wealth is distributed in New York and the poverty in his neighbourhood. The close up of the black teenage boy wearing (what looks like) a black beanie is used to show that he is a victim of poverty, but a few seconds later he pulls down the balaclava to cover his face, inferring that he is about to commit a crime. This challenges the representation of the poor because it implies that what the rest of society may see as the consequences of being poor, those who live in poverty have other means of obtaining money through committing crimes and being involved in illegal activity and so the problem of ‘poverty’ is a social construct from outsiders and the richer, middle class people made to exploit the white race for their prejudice and discrimination.

Also, another way in which some of the traditional aspects are broken is through his lyrical content, the famous line ‘‘I got 99 problems but a bitch ain’t one’’ clearly suggest that Jay Z has a low opinion of women, as he labels them demeaning words such as ‘b*tch’ signifying that he has more power over them as they gave no ability to affect him. Yet through the use of voyeurism Jay Z attracts more male attention to the female, instead of completely disregarding them through the shots of women in bikini’s ‘booty-shaking’ and dancing in front of a car which flick through the clip at fast rates to capture male attention suggesting that they cannot get enough of women. He is able to portray the message effectively through synaesthesia as his lyrics collaborate well with the visual images to connect with the audience in a way that they can relate.

In terms of keeping with the traditional aspects of the hip-hop genre, the black and white theme of the video is similar to hip hop music videos from the late 1980’ and early 90’s by groups such as ‘Jazz’ by A Tribe called quest and ‘Rock box’ by RUN DMC, which is in a sense goes back to the traditional roots of hip hop where the lyrics were the most important part of the music video and there were lines dropped in about life and social issues instead of just displaying wealth, drug referencing and explicit lyrics. By going back to the roots of the hip hop genre the message of the song is displayed clearly and the ‘abstract’ aspects of the video have made the message of the video easier to understand. To sum up, the music video did divert away from many of the traditional aspects associated with the hip hop genre including the way the message was portrayed, through the technical elements such as camera shots and movements but in terms of rap the lyrics relate to and are similar to other artist’s music.