The music video for "Work Out" by J. Cole shows his interest in a girl he likes but is uncertain about pursuing a relationship with. There are close-ups of both J. Cole and the girl to emphasize their starring roles. The upbeat music matches well with the transitions between scenes in the video. References are made to the notion of looking through shots of the girl in a bikini, intended to sexualize and increase viewership of the video.

1. SUMMER
ASSIGNMENT
Textual analysis of music video

2. KayneWest-Stronger
■ Stronger is a song by American rap and hip-hop artist KayneWest.This is based on
Daft Punk's song "Harder Better Faster Stronger," which peaked at #25 in the UK in
2001.The duo from Daft Punk cooperated with KanyeWest in allowing him to place
his rapped lyrics over their electronic pop rhythm and were delighted when they heard
the final version.
■ The genre of the music is spectacle but I believe that it also has aspects of narrative. I
think this because there are many crazy scenes, flashing lights and random things
going on.There is also a story that goes on behind it how Kayne west, goes from being
weak to being stronger (as the video suggests) because of an operation.
■ Kayne west and mike dean both produced the song “Stronger”

3. What is the relationship between lyrics
and visuals?
The lyrics are shown in the video by use of transitions from
what the lyrics are onto the screen. In the screenshot on the
right, it shows Kayne West on a doctors bed zooming through
the air as if it was way forward in the future.The lyrics say
There is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals in
this screenshot. It says “bow in the presence of greatness”
while the screenshot shows somewhere in Asia and the
corrupt system being shown.

4. The relationship between the music and visuals are are established throughout the music
video. At the beginning of the music video, Kanye is rapping while there are fast
transitions showing a futuristic city and “Kanye west” being put into some sort of
machine.The scenes are a lot shorter and sharper than a normal paced video.
What is the relationship between music
and visuals?

5. Are there close-ups of the artist and star
image motifs?
Throughout the video, there are some close ups of the artists that are performing. Firstly,
there is a close up of Daft punk, they are portrait as being “the robots behind the scenes”
There shiny helmets show the futuristic look. For Kanye, there are some close ups of him
also.These mainly focus on his style and his look while rapping showing that he is the
main performer in the music video.This video also relates to previous videos as ‘Kanye
West’ has the same sort of fashion and quirkiness about him throughout the video.

6. Is there reference to the notion of
looking?
No, for this video, there is no real reference to the notion of looking. Kanye west isn't
trying to be portrayed as sexual.We can see this by the clothes that he is wearing, the way
he speaks and the video that goes along with the music. However, there is only one bit in
the video that COULD be shown as sexualized.This is when he is in some sort of machine
being operated on. He is only in his underwear, this is the only time he could be shown as
the ”notion of looking”

7. Is the music video performance-based,
narrative-based or concept-based?
For this video, I believe that it is mainly based between the narrative and performance. I
believe this because it looks as if they are trying to tell a story where Kanye west gets
operated on to become said “Stronger” Later on in the video, he is shown to be in a
hospital bed in agony because of what has just happened to him.
I also think that there are parts of performance in the video as well because in the video,
you can see Kanye west rapping and performing.

8. Kendrick Lamar-Swimming Pools
"Swimming Pools (Drank)" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Kendrick
Lamar. It was released on July 31, 2012 as the lead single (second overall) from his major-
label debut studio album good kid m.A.A.d city (2012), byTop
Dawg,Aftermath and interscope.The song was written by Lamar andTylerT minus
Williams, the latter of whom also produced the song.The song, mixed by Dr. Dre andTop
Dawg's engineer Derek "Mixed by Ali" Ali, propelled Lamar to mainstream popularity.The
song peaked at number 17 on the US Billboard hot 100, in its thirteenth week of charting,
after gradually climbing up the chart. It debuted on the Hot 100 at number 100 and
progressed from number 55 and 32 to its peak. "Swimming Pools (Drank)" also serves as
Lamar's first entry on the UK singles chart, where it debuted at number 63

9. What is the relationship between lyrics
and visuals?
During the beginning of the video, there is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals.
This is when Kendrick says “Drank” a bottle then smashes on the floor followed by a
woman in a body suit dancing sexually. In one scene, Kendrick says “I was in a dark room,
loud tunes” this is then followed by a lit room and then a dark room with strobe lights on
and Kendrick dressed in white dancing.

10. What is the relationship between music and
visuals?
The relationship between music and visuals establish throughout the video. In one of the
scenes, Kendrick is rapping the chorus of his song while there are people dancing in a
brightly red-lit club.The relationship is there because the music is up beat and a song that
would definitely be played in a club.

11. Are there close-ups of the artist and star
image motifs?
In the music video, we do see a lot of close ups of the artist performing.The first one is of
Kendrick all alone with a black back drop where you can only see the bottom half of his
face.The reasoning for this is that they may want to get closer to the audience so they can
really show there feelings for the music.Videos are a way to promote the song and the
artist. Close ups are a way to do this and allow the audience to see the artist singing the
lyrics to the song.

12. Is there reference to the notion of
looking?
Yes, I believe that there is. In one of the scenes Kendrick is rapping and there is a woman
that is acting out what he is rapping. She is dressed in a black body suit that is sexualized
as you can see most of her bottom half. She is also dancing sexually and using hand
movements to portray this even more.

13. Is the music video performance-based,
narrative-based or concept-based?
I believe that the music video is performance based.This is because you can see that the
artist is in the video all the way through till the end.You can see that he is rapping and that
there is a lot of dancing and sexualized images throughout.

14. Joe Cole-Work out
Work Out" is a song by American hip hop recording artist and record producer J. Cole, and
released as the lead single from his debut studio album ColeWorld:The Sideline Story
(2011).The song was officially released on June 27, 2011 through Roc Nation and Columbia.
Nas voiced his displeasure with the song and inspired Cole to create the song "Let Nas
Down" on his Born Sinner . It samples the chorus from "Straight Up" by PaulaAbdul, Abdul
would later sample "Work Out" for her song "Dream Medley."

15. What is the relationship between lyrics
and visuals?
The relationship between the lyrics and visuals show that he likes a girl. Looking at the
lyrics, he says “and we got a good thing, I dunno if I’m gonna see you again”This is
indicating that he likes the girl a lot but doesn't’t know if it will “work out”This can also
mean in the sense that he likes her a lot and when they are together, he has a great time
but he doesn't’t know if he wants to call her back.

16. What is the relationship between music
and visuals?
The relationship between the music and the visuals is established at the beginning of the
the video.The music is very upbeat and has a good rhythm to go with it.There is a lot of
scenes where J.Cole is rapping.The transition from one scene to another are quite slow as
that is what the music pace is.Then for the faster parts of the song, the transitions are
quicker and more sharp.The relationship between the music and visuals are most evident
when the slow motion is in effect with the beat of the music going on.

17. Are there close-ups of the artist and star
image motifs?
Yes there are close ups of the artist.These are shown at the points of the music video
where they want to emphasize on the point of what they are saying.Also, the main reason
for this is so they can also promote themselves as well as the artist and make sure that the
video is successful. In this case, the woman has a lot of make up on to show that she is the
one that J.Cole likes.There are also close ups of J.Cole throughout the video to show his
style and to make sure the audience know that he is the main star in the video.

18. Is there reference to the notion of
looking?
Yes, throughout the video, there are scenes where the girl that J.Cole likes is wearing a
bikini.This shows that the video is sexualized and that the video may get more views.