Conventions of Music Videos

Kendrick Lamar - Alright

Narration and Performance by music artist: (Conforms)

Within the video we can see that Kendrick Lamar both tells the story and acts as a character within the video. We can see this as early on in the video, we see Kendrick Lamar narrating the story within the video, whilst also 'head-banging' to the music with his friends.

Relation between the video and lyrics: (Conforms)

In the video we can see that the lyrics relate to the video. This is because Kendrick Lamar is rapping about rights, and the persecution of black people because of police within America, and so shows policement carrying Kendrick's car, in the same manner a powerful ruler would have been carried in the past, but within a cart instead.

Setting is used to show glamourous lifestyle: (Challenged)

Within the video, even though there is a lot of money being thrown around and the characters are partying, it isn't showing glamour. By looking at the surrounding where the characters are held up, we can see that it is located within the projects, which shows how they live in relative poverty. In contrast to this we are also shown the city, where there are tall skyscrapers and a clean environment, where a 'beautiful' woman is shown getting out of the car and looking at Kendrick Lamar.

Carlson's Theory: (Conforms)

Televised Bard - As we can see from the video, Kendrick Lamar is a televised bard as he shows the story through both his lyrics, and through the video. Even though the images from the video may not have complete direct links to the lyrics, it is purposely done in this way as it is supposed to be a video sprawling with metaphors and suggestive themes.

Representation of women:

Within the video women are not sexualised whatsoever. Even though we are shown a beautiful woman within the city, we are only made to desire her, but she has not placed in the video to be sexualised or objectified. This is due to the nature of Kendrick's song, as he is trying to promote equality through his lyrics, meaning that he has to consider equality in every aspect in order to not be hypocritical.

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