R&B Music History

Rhythm 'n' Blues (R'n'B) started back in the 1940's known as "jazz blues" it was said that the music was descried as "urbane, rocking, jazz-based music with a heavy, insistent beat." It originally was popular in the African-American culture and the term rhythm 'n' blues was originally used by record companies so they could draw in the primary target audience being African-Americans. It was pre-war time which was when the African-Americans population.

This R&B song was released in 1996 by the Backstreet boys and is called "No Dignity". From a lot of the conversations shown in this music video and what they say I personally think that this music video is aimed at young teenage boys. For example they say "attracting honeys like a magnet" this is a stereotypical convection of teenage boys as stereotypically a teenager boys dream is to have a lot of girls around them.

The different camera shots that were used during this music video, represents and challenges the typical stereotype for R&B artists. The first camera shot is a close up of a car which can show that they have a lot of money and that it is important, another shot that represents this is that they are wearing gold chains and that they are noticeable which can also represent money. The next shot is a mid shot of women which shows that women are an important part within the music video. Following this the next shot is a long shot of women dancing therefore shown to be sexualised. Low angle shot came after of the men which shows power as they are looking down on it. Linking to this the next shot was a high angle of women therefore showing that they have no power and the men are higher. Another way that women are sexualised in this music video is the close up of their bums therefore that's what the men want the focus to be on. Following this the next why is a mid shot of their bodies therefore these men think that this is the next important thing to be looking at. Sexuality women in this music video is the consistent thing as they then follow with a low angle shot up their skirts. Therefore all these camera shots and angles are following the typical conventions of a R&B music video as they concentrate on the sexual pars of women and sexualised them more.

The Mise en scene in this music video shows the costumes that the women are wearing whilst dancing progreactive as they are showing a lot of flesh. Another thing is that the ratio of men to women is that there is more women than men and therefore shows that within music videos they are following the stereotypical convention as it shows that men like to have a lot of women around them. Also the lighting in the music video shows it to be very dark and therefore following the serotype of R&B music videos to be dingy and to represent clubs and the street. Another part of the Mise en scene that shows that men have more power is the costumes that the men and women wear. The women wear really revealing and sexualised outfits as the men are mainly covered up and they normally only show parts of the flesh such as their arms that show them to be 'superior'. Following this when the women is singing there isn't as many shots of her than there is of the men when thy are singing showing that she isn't as important.

The sound is also used in R&B music videos which include non diegetic and diegetic sound. The non diegetic sound is the humming in the background that gives it a sense of acoppella which can show that they can do more things than just sign. The other non diegetic sound is the piano in the background which is an convention for R&B because the type of instrument makes it rhythm and blues. However the only diegetic sound that is in the music video is the signing which is a typical convention for a music video.

Lastly editing is used to give the music video a club vibe. This is down by fast cuts as the music gets a fast pace. Therefore it links to the type of music that the music video is used for. Following this women are sexualised again by the quick flashes of women which shows that women are to be sexualised and it attracts the men's attention more to watch the video.

The next video is "Dilemma" which was sang by the artists Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland. This R&B song was realised in 2002 in the album "Nellyville". This music video and sign is more aimed at Trena he girls as it’s more relaxed and not focused on women as much.

The camera shots in this music video follow and goes against the typical conventions of R&B music video. The first shot in the music video that is shown is an establishing shot that shows the type of town that this music video is based in. It shows that everyone knows everyone and that everyone on the street is close. This shot follows the typical conventions of R&B because it shows the song being linked to real life situations. The next shot also follows the conventions of an R&B song as it is a mid-shot of women following the man about. This shows that the women are powerless and that the women are sexualised which may mean that men are seen to own women. A low angle shot is the next shot that is shown in the music video which shows that the men are powerful and make the decisions and that women should obey them. Therefore against the lyrics this shot is going against and following the typical conventions as it shows men are more powerful however the lyrics are saying that she is going against her man, which is seen as going against the typical stereotype for women as she isn’t following or doing what her man says. Another shot that is following the typical conventions for an R&B music video is the long shot of a woman’s legs, this shows that women are there to be sexualised and therefore will attract males attention to the music video. Another shot that follows the conventions of a the R&B genre is another long shot of a man sitting on the car therefore shows he has money and women should respect him for that. Lastly a high shot  showing the women in distress shows that the women needs a man to save her and therefore follows the typical conventions of an R&B music video, as the men are superior and women need looking after.

The Mise en scene is used to follow and go against the typical R&B conventions. Firstly the men are more covered than the women therefore this attracts a male’s attention and follows the typical stereotype of a woman being sexualised. Another part of Mise en scene that is used to follow the stereotypes of an R&B music video is the way the different characters in the music video are placed. This is shown when the men are sitting on the chair and the women are standing around them. This shows men to have more power as the women should only be there to look after the man. Also the Mise en scene is used to follow the stereotype of men leaving this is shown by the man getting fed up with the woman and leaving therefore shows the man to have more power over the women. The props that are used in this music video follow the stereotype because the music video uses props such as cars to follow the typical stereotype of males in R&B songs. This stereotype is that men have a lot of money as they are the breadwinners and therefore shows that men have more power. However cars are also used in the music video to go against the typical stereotypes of women as it is shown for women to be driving. This is going against the stereotype because it shows that women can be independent and that women don’t always need men to be around for them therefore is seen not to be conventional.

The sound is used by being spilt into non diegetic and diegetic sound. This helps sound go against and follow the conventions of R&B music videos. The diegetic sound that is used is the singing throughout the music video this is conventional as all/most of R&B music videos have the artist singing. Secondly the mum shouting out is a diegetic sound as it isn’t added in and is natural to the music video. This goes against the conventions of an R&B music video as they don’t normal have talking over the singing. The non-diegetic sound is the instruments that are used in the music video. This is because there are many instruments that are used and therefore follows the stereotype of R&B music as they have a mixture of instruments to create the beat.
In this music video there isn’t a lot of editing. This goes against the conventional R&B music video as there is normally a lot going on. In this music video there is two types of editing which is fast cutting when the beat speeds up to show that there is a lot of emotion in the song. This follows the stereotypes of R&B music as there are normally a lot of emotions in the atmosphere. The second type of editing is fading between shots. This is going against the conventions of an R&B music video as it shows the emotions to be calm and relaxed, however the lyrics reflect differently.

The last video is “Anit giving up” which is sang by Craig David. This song was released in 2016 in the album "Following my Intuition". This music video is different to a lot of other R&B music videos and therefore this means it goes against a lot of the conventions.

The shots that are used in this music video are very simple and therefore most of the shots don’t represent a lot. This means that it goes against the conventions of an R&B music video. The first shot is a mid-shot of his face that shows the audience who the main artist is. This follows the conventions of an R&B music video as it shows who the artist is to the audience so that they can focus on him more. After that shot there is a long shot of a girl, this shows the girl not to be sexualised as it isn’t focused on one part of her body. Throughout this music video there are a lot of long shots that show the men and women to be equal and neither of them to be sexualised.

The Mise en scene is used to follow or go against the conventions of an R&B music video. The lighting is used in this music video to go against the conventions as it is bright where as others it is dark or dark at one point during the music video. Another part of the Mise en scene that goes against the conventions of an R&B music video is the costumes, this is because all the people included in the music video are that they are covered and therefore aren’t sexualised. Next the Mise en scene goes against the conventions because the men in the music video are seen to be dancing as well and stereotypically men are seen to be to cool for dancing. Linking to this there are only five people in the music video therefore keeping it simple and equal.

The editing is used a little to go against and follow the conventions of an R&B music video. The cuts are suttle and therefore this is going against the conventions because there stereotypically really noticeable and fast. Secondly the other editing technique is that there is a panning shot which flows therefore this goes against the conventions of a typical music video as this is calm and isn’t fast.

Lastly sound is used to follow and go against the conventions of an R&B music video because there is non-diegtic sound that is deepness of sounds. This follows the typical conventions as it creates an upbeat atmosphere in the music video. Finally the singing is diegetic and therefore is natural which isn’t typical for an R&B music video.