Music Industry - Genre Conventions of R&B: Artwork and Video

Textual Investigation: 

 Conventions of RnB.

F A S H I O N. MEN:

Topless – For example Trey Songz (see below) is usually pictured in his videos with very minimal clothes on; this is because a lot of male RnB singers target market is young teenage girls.

Jeans – If the artist is pictured topless they are usually wearing jeans, slightly hanging low so you can see their boxers. They will also have a designer belt on which a few close up shots will be done on as a form of advertising for that particular item.

Tattoos – A lot of RnB male artists have tattoos a majority of the time they are on their chest if not it will be on their arms. They also have multiple tattoos, it will not just be one.

Jewellery – Unlike males in hip hop, RnB stars wear subtle jewellery like a watch, chain and earring – where as in hip hop they would wear bundles of jewellery.

F A S H I O N. WOMEN:

Minimal clothing – women in R&B usually have very little clothing on and their stomachs are on show a majority of the time; this is because to male fans they are meant to be seen as objects of desire.

Hair & Makeup – their hair is always styled in a very dramatic and eye catching way. Their makeup is also very bold and defined, especially their eyes they always have dark coloured eye shadows with gold's which makes their eyes very alluring. To show power some females wear red lipstick in their videos.

Heels – R&B females wear very high heels to elongate their legs because if they are wearing hardly any clothes the higher the shoes the longer their legs will look. However some R&B females wear trainers in their videos for choreographed scenes. 

Jewelry – Big earrings, necklaces but usually when they wear a lot of necklaces they are breaking gender stereotypes because it is usually R&B males that wear that much jewelry.

Poses: Often reclining with a direct mode of address. Looking straight out at the audience.

ICONOGRAPHY. MEN:

R&B videos are usually very sexual and the topless men in the male R&B videos connotes that sense of sexuality. A majority of R&B videos these days are filmed in grey scale/sepia tone which adds a sensual tone to the imagery in the video. R&B male stars wear jewelry however not as much as Hip Hop stars do because although they are trying to depict their wealth, a majority of the video will have close ups on their bodies and abs. 

Trey Songz – Can’t be friends:

Similar to males in the R&B genre, females in R&B also convey their sexuality through their clothing which is very minimal; they also place emphasis on their sexuality through their makeup. R&B females are usually portrayed as soft goddess type people in their videos, but more recently there has been a lot of gender stereotypes being broken in their videos with the females being seen as more powerful than men. Ciara's "like a boy” video.

 

• CHALLENGING STEREOTYPES:
• Recently, producers of videos are challenging gender stereotypes more and more, especially when dealing with  female R&B stars. In some videos females will be depicted in similar ways to males in their videos, conveying a message to the audience that the woman is a powerful person. This message is often conveyed through costume, because a change in the way women are dressed can make them seem powerful automatically – although the stereotypical image is black skimpy clothing .
• SLOW SONGS:
• Slow R&B songs that are often about being in love or breaking up. These kind of “love” songs are usually performed by females. Rather than wearing very minimal clothing, females in these songs will wear clothing that depict them in the same light as goddesses; the clothing will be bright and colourful to show happiness if the song is about being in love. 
• Whereas if the lyrics are about breaking up, the typical convention used is often a grey scale filter to show emotion and they will be wearing dark clothes. A lot of nude coloured/natural makeup will be used to convey the sense of natural beauty, because a lot of close ups of the artist's face will be included. Some of these types of songs have a narrative but some of them will just be shots of the artist. 
• A majority of the time the location for these songs will be a beach or a tropical island looking place (this will then mean a lot of wide shots showing the location) – especially if the video is a love song. 
• Songs about breaking up usually take place in a plain black room with  a chair or very minimal items in the room, because these songs tend to concentrate on the artist by using close ups to show significant facial expression and body language.
• FAST SONGS:
• Fast tempo-ed R&B songs by females usually involve them wearing bright colours, but it not about being in the club like the way the males depict themselves. A lot of videos by females are done in the studio because there are a lot of special effects especially in the background (for example: Rihanna – rude boy). 
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• The typical clothing for these type of videos are very revealing clothes with high heels to elongate legs, a lot of jewelry is worn as well where as in the slower songs, jewelry was kept to a minimum. Brightly coloured makeup is also worn, if it is not strong eye makeup it is usually very strong lip colours like reds and bright pinks. These videos do not tend to follow a narrative but will usually have a male co-star or also involve male dancers because there is usually a lot of dancing and choreography in these videos. These videos will also portray the musicians in a more powerful light although there is not a total gender switch up, they still seem more powerful than they do in videos for love songs.
• Regardless of where you view them, the purpose of music video is to promote a song. In your research, you should have come across Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. For those that remember this song it is impossible not to think about the heads in the video floating around the screen. Videos create a buzz around a song and help it get noticed. Then purchased.
• Some critics such as Andrew Goodwin, argue that music video changed the way we view moving image. Through MTV, the music video has moved away from the classic hollywood narrative structure; 3 acts with a start middle and end. So, if you start to analyse them using the same rules then they won't work.
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• Target Audience:
• A majority of R&B fans are teenagers/young adults roughly between the ages of 13-25. This could be because of the explicit lyrics in some of the songs, a majority of this age group are also females. 
• It is usually females that are attracted to R&B music because female R&B artists stereo-typically make songs about being in love or being heartbroken – this is something that will appeal greatly to teenage girls and young adults. 
• The fast paced R&B songs will also involve a lot of fashion and the synergy of music and fashion is something that will also attract females because if they are into that sort of music they are usually also interested in fashion.The target audience of R&B males is also majorly made up of females because they are portrayed in a very sexual way, through their nudity and lyrics. Females will find this appealing because usually they will also be physically attracted to the male artists. However some males will be attracted to the jewelry, naked women and depiction of wealth in these videos.

Task1: Rihanna's 2007 hit Umbrella was arguably the biggest selling song of 2007 in most countries around

 the world. Analyse the artwork and the video to see how both conform or challenge genre conventions of

 R&B. 200-300 words.