J cole - can't get enough analysis

1. J COLE – CAN’T GET
ENOUGH
BY TAMIM A2 MEDIA CASE STUDY

2. Synopsize of the video
"Can't Get Enough" is a song by American hip hop recording artist J.
Cole, released as the second official single off his debut studio album
Cole World: The Sideline Story. The song was officially released on
September 2, 2011 through Roc Nation and Columbia. The song,
featuring R&B singer Trey Songz, was produced by Brian Kidd and
samples "Paulette" as performed by Balla et ses Balladins.
The video is just to show the life of Barbados and J.cole performing in
the country. It is a performance based video and doesn’t carry meaning
to the lyrics.

3. Performance based video
The song's music video, filmed in Barbados, was directed by Clifton Bell. While in Barbados for his last
performance as the official opening act for Rihanna's Loud Tour, Cole shot the music video for his
debut album's second single, "Can't Get Enough", with Songz and Rihanna, who provided a cameo
while in her home town.
The song is a performance based video showing the two artists lip syncing. The two use gestures
throughout the video to exaggerate/convey the lyrics. For example: “make a old man get his glasses”
during this quotation, Cole puts up two hands to mime a piece of abstract glasses.
Furthermore, the performance allows the video to flow and allow different aspects of Barbados to be
be shown. This song will not fit a conceptual/narrative video because the lyrics does not have a
beginning, middle or end. Thus, Cole talks about random things about his life and as the video is
commercial aimed at the entire globe, it doesn't’t have a specific narrative or concept.
Additionally, dark-skinned women are used in the video as anchorage to the lyrics, meaning as Cole
mentions the women in his life and initially the song is about sex intertwined with semi-violent words
and so the women help to emphasis what Cole is rapping about.

4. Themes and Motifs
• Race/minorities – only mixed and black woman are used
in the video to show their pride.
• Sex – is a recurring motif as Cole talks about woman
loving his sex drive and how they brag to him about it.
• Violence – a theme which Cole touches upon stating that
any men who will be an opponent to him should stay
away.
• Romance – he talks about making love with this unknown
woman
• Money – the video shows a wealthy/luxurious lifestyle of
barbados

5. Representation of stars/artistes
• Rihanna is featured in the video as a cameo because she is from Barbados
and so it was used as a advertising technique to seize more fans for Cole in
her country. She is shown right at the end decreasing her importance in the
video but still enough as is signed to the same label as Cole – roc nation.
• Trey Songz is also featured to sing the chorus. His role is in contrast to that of
Cole’s as his portrayed as the sweet boy out of the two. Moreover, Songz as
an R&B singer so Cole used him to attract his fans as well.
• Finally, Cole is represented as a narcisstic being who performs most of the
video. His representation is of a wealthy, player like attributes. He represents
the men who gave the sex to their partners and in doing so, always brag
about it to other people as Cole does so through his lyrics.

6. Elements of post-modern
• The first element which is post-modern is the sample of the song
"Paulette" as performed by Balla et ses Balladins in the 80s. The
sample carries the song as only drums and bass are added to to
make the instrumental more modern and hip-hop like
• Another element is shooting of the video in Barbados. In the video the
country is depicted as a deprived place rather than modern. For
example: the coconuts in the video is being sliced by a machete not a
modern grater/shredder.
• There aren’t many post modern elements.

7. Special effects and editing techniques and
camera angles
• There are a variety of camera angles/shots used. Such
as: extreme close ups of Cole’s face when his singing the
hook, close ups in showing the women (This could be to
show black pride averting from the conventional genre of
hip hop) long shots to set the scene, mid shots of Cole
and Songz to allow both artists perform. Medium shots
are used in the start to set the scene and show scenery of
the surroundings such as the palm trees, which Barbados
is known for. These are all used for different purposes to
either exaggerate their words through performance,
emphasize a theme or the detail of each scene. Special
effects are used in the video to animate the smoke
coming out of Treys mouth instead of using a real
cigarette.

8. Mise en scene
• The flag by Rihanna is used to convey a sense of pride
about her country. Also, it used to remind the reader that
the actual video was shot in Barbados.
• The camp fire is also used to give the nighttime some
natural lighting alongside the artificial one. This helps to
get a mixture of lighting allowing realism to be shown.
• Songz is swearing a heavy 16” chain to show the
conventions of hip hop after all, it’s a commercial song.

9. Audience and ideas
• The target audience is for people who want to listen to a
summer jam and enjoy the scenery of Barbados but also,
especially the male population who freely express their
sexual desires for women. As it is a relatable subject for
many males, maybe some women, it would attract them
into buying this record, which is also how Cole would
connect to his audience, as they understand his desires.
• I like the idea of the video using slow scenes only when
the location/extra actors are present in the video. I think
this would be a good effect to use in our video if its
performance based as it will allow the song and video to
emphasis importance of the people.