2. The Genre
• RnB is a genre of popular African-American
music that originated in the 1940s. The term
was originally used by record companies to
describe recordings marketed predominantly
to urban African Americans, at a time when
"urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a
heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more
popular.
3. Famous Artists
• Famous artists include…
• Aaliyah
• Mary J.Blige
• James Brown
• Missy Elliot
• R. Kelly
• Ne-Yo
• Rita Ora
• Sean Paul
• Quincy Jones
• Rihanna
• Justin Timberlake
• Usher
• Pharrell Williams
4. Conventions of music videos
• MALES
• Jewellery- typical jewellery includes watches, chains and earrings; almost a status
symbol of wealth in relation to other artists. However, hip hop artists are more
likely to wear a lot more jewellery.
• No t-shirt- a lot of male artists under this genre tend to wear very little clothing,
because of the target market of teenage girls.
• Tattoos- a lot of male artists will be seen with many tattoos, mainly on their chests
or arms.
• WOMEN
• Minimal clothing- many artists wear hardly any clothing in their videos; one to
appeal to a male audience and too also be presented as objects of desire.
• Hair and make-up- hair tends to be much styled, while make-up tends to be bold
and defined, as this is very dramatic and eye catching for audiences. To show
power, some may wear red lipstick in videos.
• High heels- many choose to wear heels to show off their legs, again appealing to a
male audience.
5. Music videos over time
• The 80’s- videos were largely performance based
and contained a lot of dance routines. In terms of
costume, they were more formal.
• The 90’s- costumes began to change with artists
wearing more casual clothing. Cinematography
also changed; with more close ups, as well as
songs becoming slower and more emotive.
• The 00’s- videos now started to feature male
artists topless and women wearing not a lot of
clothing. This made videos more sexual and
material based.
