Music Video Analysis - Best Friend ft. Eminem

1. Best Friend ft Eminem

2. Eminem is an American rapper, producer and actor. He is the best selling artist in
the 2000s in the United States. He has had 10 number one albums on Billboards
200 and 5 number 1 singles on the Billboard top 100. he is the 6th best selling
artist in the United States and the highest selling Hip hop artist. Eminem has won
a total of 15 Grammys in his career so far as well as multiple MTV awards and one
Oscar for best original music. Over his whole career, Eminem has released 8 studio
albums, featuring some of the biggest names in music. His music has been
depicted by critics as causing violence and crimes, which Eminem has then rapped
about in later song releases. Yelawolf is an American Rapper from Gadsden,
Alabama. His first independent album was released in 2005, titled ‘Creek Water’.
During 2005 and 2005, he released one EP and four mix tapes. His EP ,‘Trunk
Muzik’, amassed the attention of a strong audience and later culminated into a
record signing with Interscope records. In 2011, Yelawolf signed with Eminem’s
record label, Shady Records. Since then, he has released 4 albums, including Love
Story, featuring Best Friend.
Biography: Eminem & Yelawolf

3. I chose the music video ‘Best Friend’ by
the artist Yelawolf featuring Eminem.
Yelawolf is a hip-hop artist who is part of
Shady Records. Hip hop is the most
listened to music genre across the world.
The scenes in ‘Best Friend’ does not
reflect a stereotypical Hip-hop music
video. The music video is a countertype
to the Hip-hop genre. The setting they
use are in a field, a cemetery and a
church. These settings all fit in with the
lyrics in the song. The video has taken on
a performance based structure
completely, with no narrative in this
video. Yelawolf and Eminem don't really
have dance routines but they do have
choreographed scenes which makes the
music video look natural and
professional. The music video does
contain sections where the artist is not
singing and is not interacting with the
camera, giving the video a slight
narrative tone, but no story is made from
it.
Other Hip-hop artists have now come out
of the stereotypical conventions of a
music video. Eminem, in his prime time,
was controversial in his music video
choices, but now his music videos
have adapted into mature, professional
videos. Some hip-hop songs these days still
contain stereotypes such as women in
revealing clothing surrounded in money with
the artist in the centre of the women and the
money.
A lot of hip-hop videos these days have a
narrative structure but also have performance
aspects involved in the narrative, as if the
story is narrated by the artist. This video
however does not contain any narrative
features and is plain but effective.
The artists look like modern Hip-hop artists
compared to the stereotypical style of what
people perceive a rapper looks like. The
clothing worn in the video fit into a modern
style. The old style of hip-hop where the
artists wear baggy trousers and tops has
faded out and now they have approached a
modern style, where the artist wears casual
clothing like a hoodie, bomber jacket, skinny
jeans or just clothes associated with the
artists personality. which is represented in
this music video.
Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in metal
videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).

4. ‘Best Friend’ has a performance based structure video but no fancy dancing was implemented and
is a simple, but effective choice for the video. The song is about Eminem’s best friend (proof) who
passed away. The images on screen fit perfectly with the lyrics presented. Eminem and Yelawolf
are both shown to wear black and dark clothing, giving off the connotations of death and grief. As
the song is about death and a passed away friend, these connotations fit perfectly with the lyrics.
The way Eminem is physically moving reflect what he is like on stage and in front of an audience.
Through Eminem's movement, he is amplifying the lyrics and music presented to for the audience.
Eminem's harsh sounding tone in this video is captured along side his abrupt and painful
movement. The lyrics for the video do reflect the whole setting and the scenery. For instance,
Eminem is presented in a church rapping about his friend who passed away. Also Yelawolf is
presented in the same church making references to bible quotes and Christianity terminology.
At some points in the video, Eminem and Yelawolf are both shown to look away and not recognise
the camera. This is sort of a narrative feature implemented into the video to add a subtle feeling
targeted towards the audience. Eminem amplifies the lyrics by acting out the sound effects that
come with it. For instance, Eminem raps “cock and I shoot”. Along side this line he acts out
shooting with his hand towards the camera directed at the audience. The editing of the video is
fast and slow in parts. When Eminem is rapping, the pace picks up but when Yelawolf is on, the
editing becomes slow. These links between the atmosphere and lighting, that connect with the
lyrics in the video, connect with the audience as they are directed with camera positioning and
artist positioning.
There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented
with images. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

5. The tone of the music video is quite sad, slow and dull to begin with, but as Eminem becomes the
star image, the music tends to pick up. The music throughout the video is dark, dull, gloomy and sad.
The colours presented with these words are dark, black and grey. All of these colours are presented
in the video through different scenes. Yelawolf is seen in a grave yard surrounded by fog, amplifying
the depressing sound of the video. The dull scene gives the music and video a more menacing feel to
it, bringing on more focus onto the lyrics while reflecting the mood of the song. Eminem is also
shown in a church which is represented as dark and dull but there is slight light. When Eminem
becomes the main model, the beat for the music picks up and begins to excite the audience. This can
be linked to the lighting in the scene as it begins to get brighter without Yelawolf in the shot. When
Yelawolf is in the shot, the lighting then gets darker again. This video does not really represent a
normal Hip-hop video due to it not containing a narrative structure. Most Hip-hop videos now
contain a narrative based structure but this video is just performance based, with some narrative
features. However, the song would be pretty hard having a narrative structure due to the story of the
song is basic and repeats over and over again. It also isn’t as if the artists are telling a story, more just
telling their problems and saying they are missing their best friend. When the music shows a
prominent beat or a certain sound from the instrumental background, the visuals change in tune.
Also, as the music picks up and begins to get faster, the editing begins to pick its pace up as well.
Each section also links into one another. Eminem is keeping the same routine in each section so the
video looks chronological even though he is presented in different sections. The editing of the video
picks up as soon as Eminem steps into frame. The editing also picks up pace when Eminem picks up
the beat with his fast rapping which fits in with the Hip hop genre, meaning the visuals fit perfectly
with the rhythm of the song.
There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and
atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music. (either illustrative,
amplifying, contradicting).

6. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close
ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across
their work (a visual style).
Throughout the video, there a lot of close ups of one particular artist, Yelawolf. Yelawolf is shown
in many close up and also some mid and long shots, remaining in the centre of frame. Some of
the shots look like they have been conducted in a white room with a red adjustment layer added
in post production of the video. Although Eminem is shown with close ups, most of them are
shown to be mid shots with him in the centre of the frame. These close ups for Eminem seem
contradictory with other shots used in the video. The lack of close ups on a major artist like
Eminem could be down to him being the featuring of the video. The use of Eminem looking at
the camera is a demand of the record label to show Eminem addressing his audience. Eminem
in represented as wearing casual clothing and seen to wear a hoodie, a bomber jacket, skinny
jeans and high top shoes. This style is seen across multiple of his videos including Space Bound
which was produced in 2010. He also performs live with his style which shows his record label do
not want him to change his outfit.
In his early work, he performed wearing baggy clothing which was popular back in the 90s. This
is why his style has now changed and will probably change again to keep him in touch with the
rapidly changing fashion in the Hip hop genre. Yelawolf is represented as the same character
throughout his different videos and songs. The style his record label has chosen for him mixes in
with indie and Hip hop. His hipster style includes him wearing a leather jacket, very skinny jeans,
a hat (which does not fit in the conventions of a casual Hip – hop artist) and various tattoos. He
is signed to Interscope records but he is also signed to Eminem's record label, Shady Records.
Both these record labels collaborate together so they will probably both keep the style Yelawolf
has chosen himself. The lighting that the director introduced in the video shows Yelawolf in a
bright environment, whereas Eminem is shown in a dark surrounding, matching his lyrics. Within
this, the editing of each artist is different. Eminem mainly has fast paced editing and Yelawolf
mainly has slow and calm editing.

7. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and
particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
The notion of looking in this music video is frequently addressed through the use of the close up
and mid shots of the artists Eminem and Yelawolf. Eminem is mainly used with mid shots whilst
looking towards the camera, where as Yelawolf is shown in a close up, looking towards the camera
as well. He is also used looking away from the camera when the shot positioning changes. This also
occurs for Eminem. Whilst looking at the camera, this action is breaking the forth wall and creating
a relationship with the audience, to connect them more with the song and the artists. This, in turn,
creates a synthetic connection with the audience and the artists, making the audience feel like they
are involved in the music.
The rough, rugged look of the artists both incorporate the conventions of the Hip hop genre. Their
look gives off the connotations of youth, however, neither of them are young, it still fits in with the
Hip hop genre. This video appeals to the female gaze as the main artists are male. The female gaze
is satisfied through the use of the close ups on the main artists and a little bit more screen time with
Eminem. Due to him being the bigger artist, there is debate on whether he is more attractive than
Yelawolf. However, with him being shown more, this satisfies the female viewers more and they
become more invested into the music video. The artists outfits are another way of attracting the
female gaze. Although both artists are presented with the connotations of evil and death (shown
through their black clothing), their clothing is to represent their grief they are suffering. Although
these connotations are presented, the female gaze is still in play here. Stereotypically, females are
presented with white clothes to represent innocence. With the female gaze, we can assume that
the stereotype for men would not be innocence but power and strength. These colours can be
presented through the use of the black and the dark colours Eminem and Yelawolf wear.