The music video for "That's Not Me" by Skepta & JME breaks conventions by having a raw, homemade style. It was filmed in an isolated urban location and uses a grainy filter to look retro. Scenes include Skepta talking to the camera in a basement and a one-take performance of the song on a housing estate corner. The video gives insight into Skepta's origins in the grime genre through its gritty depiction of life on the streets.

1. Music Video Analysis
Skepta & JME - Thats Not ME
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‘Thats not me’, a song by Skepta & JME which tell the audience about how they have
changed through their careers, and the way that they were was not really them. Two brothers
which have made a big name for themselves in the british Grime genre within the past 4
years. The song was released as a single prior to Skepta’s new 2014 album ‘Konichiwa’ which
is being released around summer. The video seems to follow a concept narrative as well as at
the same time being a performance video. The video begins inside of a basement which
Skepta is talking to the camera (audience) about his latest plans as well as thanking them for
listening to his music and for being fans of him. I believe that this video is very different to
many modern music video’s because of the way it has been filmed and edited together. It feels
very ‘home-made’ and grimy looking which connects brilliant to the genre.
The music video for Skepta & JME’s ’Thats not me’ is very non-linear, this is because the
video has been edited to give no indication of time. At the start of the video a collection of
different montage shots showing the isolated un-
derground urban location that Skepta’s ‘hideout’ is.
Close ups of Graffiti and mid shots of Skepta look-
ing like a stereotypical ‘thug’ or ‘hood’ perfectly
link to the typical conventions of the Grime. After
these intro shots of the video, a few shots have
been filmed of a one on one with the artist, which
then makes the audience feel more involved. This
also happens after the actual song has finished in the
middle of the video, I believe that this interaction
with the artists isn't a typical convention of any
video, which makes the video one that is breaking
conventions of not only grime genre videos but those
of any genre. Because the video does not really fol-
low any structured narrative it neither has any stages
of equilibrium to it, but instead an intro of the main
artist talking, then a very raw feeling performance of the song, and then an outro talking to
both artists.
When looking at the characters within the video we get to see a large group of people but are
only introduced to two of them, Skepta and JME. During the performance we then see their

2. ‘gang’ in the background, this is an extremely good example of a Grime genre convention.
This is because the grime genre industry surrounds a lot around freestyle videos where rap-
pers perform directly into the camera in large groups. One person raps, he finishes and steps
away and one then takes his place. I believe the way the characters are represented to the au-
dience is modern and stylish in terms of british fashion. Skepta and JME are dressed how
most Grime artists do but wearing high end expensive clothes. This runs parallel to one of the
lyrics in the song; “Yeah, I used to wear Gucci, put
it all in the bin cause thats not me”. This is Skepta
outlining the fact that even though he cares about
the way he looks, he’s not going to wear clothes
just to make him something that he is not. This
connotes rebellion and a free life he lives, which is
also a stereotype of the Grime genre.
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When looking at the miss en scene of the music video there is a lot to analyse. A grainy filter
has been used to create a retro look to the video. I believe this is a reason why the video is ex-
tremely different to any other modern music video’s today. The dimensions of the video are
also smaller and do not fully fit the screen while
watching the video, contributing again to make the
video feel older . A grimy look to the video has been
created by everything inside of the video being very
urban throughout the video. As I have already men-
tioned the video starts off by showing graffiti inside
of a house; during the performance of the song that
camera cuts to an exterior shot on an estate corner
recording the artists rap. The housing estate has
been purposely used to represent that the artists
aren't forgetting where they come from and also re-
lates to the way before they were famous they used to
perform by making home rap videos on street cor-
ners.
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Throughout the video we see many characters smoking drugs, this is a typical convention of
this type of music, as drugs are an everyday occurrence. This visual of drugs in the video al-
lows the audience into the life of the artist, making the video more interesting and real to
watch. While analysing the mis en scene in the video, the characters clothes is an interesting
topic to look at. It seems that everyone shown in the video is wearing black, the black colours
help the characters look more connected and like a gang while at the same time making them
look dark minded and quite menacing. Skepta, the main artist in the video is wearing a clean
white top, this makes him stand out which is a typical convention of any music video. The

3. artist of the song should be in the main spot light.
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When looking at the cinematography of the music
video there isn't really a large variety of camera
angles and techniques. This is because the video
has been shot hand held to make it look home made. The performance within the video has
been shot in one take, this shows the skill and talent of the artists which is also a very impor-
tant convention of the Grime genre, because typically the artists love to showcase their skills.
At the end of the video a short shot of Skepta’s gang watching a video on a computer has
been edited in. This creates a very true sense of
reality while running parallel to the underground
dark isolated feeling of the video, allowing the au-
dience to again feel more engaged with the artists.
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Overall the music video of ‘Thats not me’ does break a lot of typical music video conventions
but at the same time is an interesting to watch product. Even though that the video includes
only a small amount of scenes it has been clearly planned out. In comparison to Skepta’s oth-
er video this one is extremely different. In his others, ‘beautiful’ women as well as money are
in prime view, whereas in this video an extremely raw take on grime has been used to give an
insight on where Skepta’s career really started.