This music video by Not3s and Mabel explores themes of diversity, gender, and ethnicity. It presents the artists wearing opposite colors that represent binary oppositions between masculinity and femininity. However, Mabel subverts stereotypes by displaying independence and control over her sexuality. The video uses lighting, locations, and shots of the artists to tell a narrative of their unexpected romantic connection at a winter fair. It provides positive representations that challenge stereotypes.

1. Music Video Analysis: Not3s,
Mabel – My Lover (Radio
Edit)
Holly Elsom

2. Not3s, Mabel – My Lover
(Radio Edit)
• ‘My lover’ by Not3s (pronounced Notes), British-Nigerian singer-
songwriter, rapper and actor from Hackney, was originally released
in 2017 until a remix with Mabel, Swedish-English singer-
songwriter, was released in 2018 which is the video I am analysing.
There is already diversity within the artists, but also within the
music video. This video includes many representations of ethnicity
and explores this throughout. This music video is both a narrative
and performative and blends elements of hip-hop and R&B. In this
music video we can apply the Binary Oppositions theory by Levi-
Strausse when looking at the main protagonists Mable and Not3s.
The boy vs girl visual is presented by the use of mise-en-scen. The
stereotypical use of colour, pink for Mabel and black and blue
for Not3s in their first outfits. Not3s wears trendy clothes which
are typical for his target audience. This would enable his audience
to relate to him. The typical black and blue colours can
be recognised as manly and dominant over Mabels. She wears an
oversized faux fur pink coat and white lounge set. This would also
help her audience relate to her with the casual clothes. The pink
and white colours are feminine as the white and black creates
a binary opposition between them. It could be to enhance the
saying ‘opposites attract’ by having the two wear opposite colours.
The use of the oversize coat could be to present Mabel as covering
up and concealing herself representing her as independent and
not needing to show her body for attention.

3. • The lyrics ‘I’m you’re size’ support this suggesting she is
what he wantsas she is. This is further proven by the
lyrics ‘I’ll decide when we take things further’ showing
how she knows her worth and has control in the situation
which subverts Laura Mulvey’smale gaze theory. It
also disagrees with Van Zoonen’stheory stating in
patriarchalculture, the way women’sbodied are
represented as objects is different to the representation
of male bodies as spectacle. It suggests we are in
a patriarchywhich dominatesand oppresses women.
However, Mabel’slyrics and outfit suggest otherwise
implying she is aware of her power. Despite wearing
feminine colours, she is still a ‘boss’ as she states he
is. Her gold jewellery could convey an expensive look for
Mabel hence being independentand making money for
herself. The extreme close up camera shot on her hand
focuses us on her gold rings one of which containspink
which againpresents Mabelas feminine. The
extreme close up on her face focuses on her and blurs out
the background. We can clearly see her gold earrings and
are drawn to look at her as it is an eye level shot and she
is dominantin the shot. It allowsus to see her facial
expression which remains like a poker face suggesting
mystery which could also be why she has an
oversized coat – to enhance the idea of secrecy. The mid
shot revealsher gold necklace which is not alwaysvisible.
It is a heart which suggests she is open to love but not

4. • Not3s wears a silver hoop earing in his firstoutfit and a gold chain in
his second. Mabel sings the line ‘your chain, so icy’ whilsthe wears
his firstout suggesting he my havebeen influenced by this line and
then worea chain the next time he saw her so he wouldappeal to
her showing the influence she has on him. This is a typical of a love
music video to relate the video to the lyrics. Mabel’s jewelry stayed
the samewhich implies he did not affecther into changing herself
which presents her as dominant. They areboth wearing white
jackets and similar outfits suggesting they arein sync and drawn to
each other and their love grew together. They are both ‘branded’ by
Mabel wearing a Nike top and trainers and Not3s wearing an Off-
White top, both brands know for being designer and expensive. In
the extreme close ups of Mabel’s face we can see she is
wearing makeup and eyelashes which are typically feminine as well
as acrylic nails. Her hair is slicked back into a pony tail which is
associated with working hard rather than hair down and out of
controlwhich promotes her business woman ethic. The expensive
look about Not3s is proven by him being the only one at the fun fair
at the start. Itsuggests he has hired the entire place justfor him and
his mates until it later gets busier when Mabel arrives. The rides are
running with no passengers implying it is to center attention
onto him.

5. • The way the video is filmed is, so it doesn’t fill the
entire screen. The connotation thishas is that we don’t
see everything much like how we don’t see everything
in their relationship.We see them meet and then we
know they meet again hence the outfit change, but we
don’t see how they get there. It leaves some of the
story up to the viewers imaginationand involvesthem
with the artists. The locationis introduced
immediatelyat the start of the video and
the continuityediting enables the audience to follow
along with the story chronologicallystarting from
when Not3s arrived at the winterfair. The lighting in
the video starts naturaland then as it gets dark, is
powered from the fun fair rides. This lighting seems
more appealingto the intendedtarget audience as it
can relate to places they may go e.g. nightclubs,
festivals, fun fairs. It creates a fun and lively
atmosphere by featuring such bold and
bright colourful lights. There is no naturallighting after
it gets dark which creates an exciting atmosphere
and relies on the rides to provide light. It also helps to
confirm its winter by the use of Christmas tree lights.
The lightscould also be a sign of success and the
future being positive with a bright outlook on what’s
to come for Not3s as an artist.

6. • Another typical love song music
video convention featured in this video is
the close up camera shot lip syncing from both
Not3s and Mabel. Not3s tends to make
hand gestures during this, often making a
love heart with his hands which is typical
of romantic iconography. His facial
expressions are continuously joyful and he is
smiling whilst singing. This creates a positive
mood and expresses the positive love he has
for the female protagonist played by Mabel. A lot
of shots of Not3s tend to be extreme close
up shots or mid shots. When they are wide shots
or full body shots it is either in his eye line or a
low shot. This shows his dominance and value he
has for himself as an artist. It shows his
importance despite racial stereotypes and being
a black man from London he will have faced
these. He defeats stereotypes of aggression by
his continuous smiling throughout. Mabel has
similar shots which the majority of are extreme
close ups of her lip syncing or eye level mid
shots. Her facial expressions are also joyous and
she has no high camera angle shots as this would
make her appear overpowered and
vulnerable. The way they both sing to the
camera is as if they are singing to each other
through it. This direct eye contact helps show
this.

7. • In this interaction, we can tell they
are looking at each other despite being
two different shots. Both shots have
been edited so they are in slow motion
and related the shots to each other as
well as the protagonists both facing
the opposite way. We don’t see it from
eye line match but as if we
are between them which engages
the audiences with the relationship. By
having these shots move in
slow motion, it isolates them from the
busy fast moving environment around
them.

8. • These two shots also connect
them to each other. Although
they are at different points in the
video, they both make the same
hand gesture which stands for the
3 in Not3s. It also helps to
build recognition for Not3s as an
artist. The difference between the
two can be shown above by the
use of colour. Mabel’s
background contains teacups and
purple/pinks colours whilst Not3s
is surrounded by
darker colours and dart boards.

9. • A stereotype for black men,
tends to be violence and
drug use in many films and
shown within the media. In
this music video, we see
Not3s handing money to a
hooded male.
Stereotypically, it may be
thought he is considering
paying for drugs hence why
he is trying to hide it and
keep it secret however
we see it is to buy a bear for
Mabel which creates a
positive representation of
him as an artist and positive
ethnic image.

10. • A frequent style of shot in this
video is a two shot which tends
to be prominent in love music
videos to capture the way two
characters look at each other.
Some examples below show the
way the protagonists look at
each other. They are constantly
smiling and expressing
positive emotions which
connotes happiness and love.
They are close and there is
physical contact which shows
they are comfortable with
each other despite having just
met. These are feature in a range
of extreme close ups, close ups
and mid shots. In the bottom
right image, Not3s face is hidden
in the dark and Mabel’s
expression can be seen in the
light to remind us of
the opposite attraction between
them.

11. • Ridesusedinthisvideoinclude the dodgems.The significance
of thisis the adrenaline yougetfromthiscanbe the same as
withintheirrelationship.Fast moving,andexcitingaswell as
risky.The waydodgemcars collide isamirrorimage of the
waytheirunexpectedlove collides. Anotherfeaturedride is
the teacups. Althoughitis thoughof aschildish,we see Mabel
singinginateacup.She isalone whichagainshowsher
independence;however,towardsthe endof the videowesee
bothNot3s andMabel in the cupsat the same time.The
importance of thembeingindifferentcupssignifies
theirtogethernessbutnotdependentoneach other. Youcan
see inthe midshoton the leftthatNot3s isbehindMabel in
a separate cup.Theybattle the agestereotype of the teacups.
Thiscould signifytheirlove makesthemfeel younger oras if
theyhave a childhoodromance.The bottomleftmidshot
showsthe twointhe dodgemsringagain.Inthisshotwe can
see he isholdingherface whichshows affectionandisan
intense actionassociatedwithakisswhichis impliedwhenwe
see themfacingeachotherbut cant see if theykiss. Itopens
up the ideatothe audience but leavesittoourimagination.