Music Video Research Proposal

For my research investigation I have chosen to research into how men are represented differently in mainstream music 'Vs' Alternative 'underground' music. This will help me to be able to know ways in which I should represent male character(s) in my music video production. I have chosen to look at the hip-hop and rap genre and look at big well-known artists creating mainstream music and comparing the representations in their music videos with alternative underground artists music videos. I chose to look at the hip/ hop rap genre as a reference in my research investigation because of how it is a very male dominated genre and also the controversy that is caused between artist and their audiences. Many UK rap artist that get signed and start to create much more mainstream music often get called 'sell outs' because of how their overall representation might change through their appearance, lyrics and in their music videos because of how the money and their record label has changed them to appeal to the mainstream audiences.

These are the hunches that I feel I am likely to find out about my investigation due to experience of listening to mainstream and alternative music and also watching the music videos: I feel that Mainstream male artist will have more structured music videos that will include all aspects such as narrative, performance, use of lighting & camera affects, etc. Lyrics and hook/chorus will be very catchy. They will be represented in a positive way by rapping/ singing less about negative problems and involve less or no swearing so that their song will be appealing to a wide audience including young children. However a lot in hip hop/ rap videos, especially American hip hop, women get sexualised by wearing revealing clothing and seductively dance around the men. The chorus/ hook of the song will probably match with the music video by repeating clips. Also the music videos will have a much higher budget and look more visual impressive than underground alternative artists videos. Underground alternative male artists are going to be represented in their videos as much more honest about themselves and their music. The subjects they will rap/ sing about will probably be about crime, poverty, fame, money, drugs, girls, cars, guns etc. Will have more freedom in what they do, wear and say in their music video because they are not trying to please mainstream audiences.

Tarzan 2.5 Versace (cover) came out late September and is by a rapper and singer called Dappy, who used to be a very mainstream artist when he was in a very successful group called N-Dubz. Since Dappy has split with the group he has released one track that became mainstream back in 2011 called, No Regrets. Since then Dappy has focused more on creating underground alternative Rap that has been published on the leading youth broadcaster 'SBTV'. Music videos have been released such as 'F**k them', 'Tarzan 1,2 and 2.5', 'Intro' etc.

I chose to analyse this track (Tarzan 2.5) because of the controversy that happened when it got released. About a week after this video was released it got removed from YouTube because of the news clips at the start of the video showing Dappy getting harassed by paparazzi as he entered court. In this video Dappy is represented as a very rebellious, dominant male because of how throwing this party and he's got all these girls and guys surrounding him as he raps. The main setting for this video is in this posh, expensive mansion (supposedly Dappy's house), Different locations also are used throughout the video such as outside his garage, on his bed, in his house and outside by the pool. The people we see in this video are mostly women and there are about 4-5 men that are normally around Dappy, dancing and drinking. The other men are also represented as dominant, powerful, rich characters because of how they all have gold chains and women surrounding them dancing seductively. However even though the other male characters are shown as powerful characters, Dappy is the main focus and is represented as the most 'stereotypical man' in the video because of how he is shown as masculine (girls stroking his body), powerful, aggressive and rebellious (Raps about not agreeing with his neighbour). These are stereotypical manners of men which Angela McRobbies's talks about in her feminist theory. The women in the video are also represented as being seductive and various close ups are shown in the video of the women which is talked about in Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' Theory. In Dappy's lyrics he also refers to women as 'hoes' and 'bitches' whilst they are stroking and hugging him, this is also talked about in the feminist theory as women being weak and subservient to men. These theories also apply to mainstream music, E.g girls are dancing around Jason Derulo in his new music video called Talk Dirty To me. 

Angela McRobbies's feminist theory is about the stereotypical gender roles in the media. Men being shown as masculine, powerful and aggressive. Women being stereotyped as weak, subservient to men and playing traditional roles in society. Also could use Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' Theory which explains how women are sexualised in the media, especially film and music videos, are used to 'gaze' at making men or the gazer superior. Jonathan Schroeder who is another theorist in 1998 also talked about his view on this 'male gaze' theory, "to gaze implies more than to look at - it signifies a psychological relationship of power, in which gazer is superior to the object of the gaze". These theories I feel will be very useful because I will be able to apply them to other genre of music as well and use them further for how I will represent males in my further production.  

I chosen to also use an article from 'Media Magazine' called 'Odd Future, Stranger Past – Issues of Representation in Contemporary Hip-Hop' which Phil Dyas talks about and explores the issues of representation in Hip-Hop music. He talks about the history of hip hop and how its change and also talks about a American rapper called 'Tyler The Creator who is part of an American rap/hip hop music group which just sits outside of mainstream rap, however still have a massive fan base. Phil Dyas talks about tradition of the 'thuggishness’ stereotype and how other artist such as Tyler The Creator, jay z etc. represent themselves.

I feel for my primary research that I am going to include the use of observation by watching a lot of music videos to see how men are represented in more genres and other types of music videos and I am also going to create questionnaires so that I can find out other peoples opinions on the matter of how men are represented in music videos. I will be looking for qualitative information and distribute the questionnaires to a variety of people from different backgrounds, ages and genders.