2. THE TARGET AUDIENCE OF HIP HOP
The pr imar y demographic of Hip-Hop consists most ly of working class,
Af r ican Amer ican males ranging f rom ages 11-36. I t does of course extend
to a range of Af r ican and Car ibbean cul tures and descendants of these
cul tures, but to a lesser extend than those of di rect Af r ican Amer ican
her i tage. However Hip-Hop is a genre which has vast ly enhanced in global
popular i ty over the last 20 years, due to this i ts demographic signi f icance
has increased to suburban Caucasian teenagers and young adul ts,
par t icular ly those aged between 11-25. Hip-hop music focuses on class and
i ts associat ion wi th pol i t ics, social status, money and power. Therefore
appeals to the working class as they are the ones who are most l ikely to
be able to relate wi th the music.
3. HOW TO APPEAL TO THE TARGET
AUDIENCE
Mi se-en-scene is a crucial aspect of Hip -Hop and is v i tal for appeal to the cor rect
audience. Out f i ts which you wi l l f ind in a large var iety of hip-hop videos are Af r ican
Amer ican fashion inspi red. Examples of thi s t ype of clothing are; hip- top t rainer s,
work boots, skinny or baggy jeans, baggy (over si zed t0shi r ts and f lashy eye
catching jewel ler. The appeal of the out f i ts i s then added to by he set t ing of the
v ideo, usual ly in less developed areas ( run-down bui ldings, graf f i t i laden wal ls)
There are al so other aspects other than mise-en-scene which can be used. There is
of ten an emphasis on low key l ight ing which can help to highl ight the urban
st ruggle and darker aspects of Hip-Hop
