The document provides background information on the band Rizzle Kicks and their music video for the song "Miss Cigarette". It discusses their image as young urban teenagers interested in fashion but not as fixated on clothes as many hip hop/rap artists. It also analyzes how the music video for "Miss Cigarette" both incorporates and subverts conventions of hip hop/rap music videos, such as including male artists performing for the camera but not including sexualized dancing by women or displays of wealth. The target audience is identified as being 16-20 years old, black, male, and from a lower social class. The band is described as being signed to the independent record label TVT Records, known for hip hop

1. Presentation Pitch
‘Miss Cigarette’
Rizzle Kicks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rElBqbWerW4

2. Artists and Image
Rizzle Kicks – Young, urban teenagers who can
dance, have fun. Their interests are about the
same as other inner city teenagers.
Their image is one that both demonstrates an
interest in clothes but less of a fixation than is
shown by many Hip Hop/Rap artists. This
reflects their youth and how they are different
from the elders of the Hip Hop/Rap world.

3. Codes of Conventions of Hip Hop/Rap Music Videos
A consideration of these codes and conventions made
apparent by whether they have been used, discarded or
subverted. Most of the elements that have been used are
stylistic and relate to the fact that the artists performance is
evident in the video.
Many of the elements that have been discarded relate to the
the objectification of women in a majority of Hip Hop/Rap
videos.
With such an established genre as Hip Hop/Rap it is almost
inevitable that it begins to be subverted and one of the aims
of the video is to undermine and represent the usual power
relations between men and women.

4. ‘Miss Cigarette’ does have…..
Male artists performing to camera, interacting with it
as though singing to the audience
Bright colours
Daylight, rather than night, is used
There are frequent close-ups of the artists performing
Setting is urban, or suburban, and identifiably set in
and around London
Editing is paced to the beat of the music track
There is use of reflection/silhouette/shadow
Studio sets are minimalist, using monochrome colour
schemes

5. ‘Miss Cigarette’ does not have …..
Cars which are often used as sets for performance
Female artists tend to combine performance to camera
with performing to an ethereal 'other
Sexualised dancing perfomed by women
Exaggerated dance moves performed by women to
accentuate the female form and their sexuality
Narrative themes of infidelity, are often played out in a
narrative performance by the artist

6. ‘Miss Cigarette’ subverts……
Displays of wealth: fast cars, expensive clothes, jewellery,
homes, lifestyles
Females are objectified: use of fragmentation, slow motion
Costumes worn by women are clingy, revealing and
sexualised
Men accentuating their virility and masculinity
Low-angled shots used to emphasise the dominance of
male
artists
Sets can be lavish, intended to represent a luxurious home
Strong backlighting is used to radiate around the artist

7. Type of Video
The video is conceptual with some narrative built into
with elements of performance.
Relationship with lyrics
There is some relation with the lyrics throughout
the video but it functions more through the use of
visual metaphors exploring ideas about addiction and
obsession.

8. Location – London, urban and grimy

9. Props and Costumes
These have been kept to a minimum in order to
reinforce the subversion of the generic convention of
Hip Hop/Rap with lots of ‘bling’ being used to
demonstrate a wealthy life style. The props and
costumes will reflect the target audience lives now
rather than show an aspirational and ultimately
unattainable (for most) life style.

10. Target Audience
Profile

11. For the primary audience the general age would be 16-20, black,
male, looking at the social class, through the A,B,C1, C2,D,E system
the primary audience would be an E due to them being students,
in
lower and higher education, without jobs or part time jobs with
low earnings.
For the secondary audience the general age would be between
12-15, black/white, with the same social standing due to the type
Of genre: pop, hip hop, rap. These are all popular genres and can
apply to all ages but the image I am creating of the band is to made
to appeal to a younger audience. However this particular song may
appeal to an older age group due to the content. The nationality of
the secondary audience is American as there is a long term aim to
break into the American market. There has recently been more
interest British Hip Hop and Rap artists in America in a market that
has dominated by the Americans.

12. The hobbies the of target audience would be studying,
clubbing, music ,DJ-ing, dance, fashion, with a large
emphasis on street fashion. technology based
socialising, team sports, socialising with friends and
skateboarding.

13. Record Label

14. Record Label and Marketing Profile
For my media production, music video, digipak and poster I have created artists
around the selected track, ‘Miss Cigarette’ by the Rizzle Kicks. The band will be
signed to an independent record label, the independent label that my band will be
connected to will be TVT record, which has many recognizable acts such as Pit Bull
and Lil Jon.
I chose this record company initially due to it being known as an 'artist friendly' label
but also due to this record label producing a similar genre to the music that my
artists produced, Hip Hop and Rap. This record label has produced 25 Gold,
Platinum and Multi-platinum releases, so although independent, this label is
capable of producing high selling albums. Another reason is that it has links to
other independent record labels such as 'The Orchid’. The band thatIhave created is
a British band but the label is American. I have done this due to the fact thatIhave
picked a popular genre mixed band and there is more revenue opportunities in the
USA. TVT Records recently renewed its long- standing agreement with QTRAX, the
first label to launch musicon the ad-supported P2P service. allowing fans to be able
to download tracks from top TVT acts like Lil Jon, Ying Yang Twins, Pitbull,
Sevendust, Just Jack, and the Cinematic for free. The download is legal and artists,
label and songwriters are paid.

15. The reason I selected an independent label for
my band is that I did not want my music to be
associated with the corporate mainstream
side of music. I wanted my music to be
reflective of the more independent, 'freer' and
youth based aspects of the Internet. By
avoiding the controlling and financially
motivated aspects of the large corporations
that have historically controlled the music
business my band has more autonomy in
creative and financial terms.

16. Flat plans and animatics
The design for the digipak and poster uses original
photographs taken around London. Two of the
phorographs represent an urban environment, focusing
on graffiti art, which can be considered a young and
street art form. The other two photographs are blurred
so that the figures could potentially be anyone. This goes
against the clear images of the artist which is one of the
stereotypical conventions.