The video for my life is all about the lavish life style that these successful rappers are currently living. They are talking about all of the perks of being a rich and famous, almost as if they are bragging about it. This is typical of many rap videos as the artists themselves are usually born in relative poor areas with very few opportunities for success, therefore these guys are not only consider themselves to be lucky but also of great inspiration to others currently going through similar problems today.
It is a full on rap video aimed at older teenagers and adults. A majority of their audience will be from poor areas similar to where these rappers grew up.
It is big, brash and loud, three things synonymous with all rap artists. They seem to have no shame in this video given that they are acting silly and being very outlandish in how they move around the set. This kind of humorous look at rap is slightly more unique to particular rappers such as Eminem, who likes to ridicule certain elements of the music industry quite regularly. The video starts out by doing a documentary style short of how Eminem is so insanely rich, the program was aptly named "Worlds Richest Rappers" which sets up the whole tone of the song.
Conventions
Aggressive body language and builds
Most rap artists such as Royce da 5'9 and Dr Dre are big men who will, alot of the time be of a muscular build. These features make them seem imposing and some what aggressive; which helps when they are trying convey the negative feelings they have felt towards the world in the past. Unfortunately for rap and hip hop artists it does mean that portraying yourself as being soft and sensitive can be somewhat difficult given this appearance, this then explains why most rap is about negative themes.
Past regrets and hatred
Most rappers use bad experiences in there past as inspiration for their music. This video opens not only with the possible loser character watching a programme about successful rappers who are better then him but also viewing that programme on a rubbish TV. The camera cuts to him in a white room standing next to a dodgy car obviously implying the idea of this man being quite poor, the man then reaches down and grabs the car back to unveil a much fancier sports car underneath. This whole act is a literal representation of how one rapper has come from pretty much nothing to having the jet setter lifestyle that every rappers aspires to.
Bragging
A theme regularly identified with rap videos is this idea that the artist themselves are putting all of their riches on show. I can only imagine this is a way of being loud and brash, a persona that all rap artists aim to achieve in their own unique way.
Lyrical Analysis
I will now look at what some of the lines from the song tell us about these rappers and the song:
The third line of every chorus is
"Jets fly private, nigga S5 hybrid, baby test drive my whip"
The first part of this line talks about how every flight they go on is going to be private, as if they consider themselves to be of a higher value to the audience. The middle part of this line names one of the luxury items they may own which happens to be a custom built Audi S5, synonymous with that of influential people. The audience is then able to associate this item as belonging to the rapper as he finishes the line by saying "my whip". Another thing to note in the final part of this line would be the inclusion of the word 'baby' which infers this guy also has a woman, which makes him seem popular and not alone.
Another part of the song goes like this:
For the first part of this line the rapper mentions his childhood which is typical of most artists in this genre. They will often retrace their past or mention their childhood. The ambiguous use of the meaning 'to be it' is used as a pun in this line. Not only can it mean to be popular but also to describe the game tag. Puns are used quite regularly in rap music. The audience enjoys this play on words and so will carry on listening for more.
The next part of the line uses the rappers more natural dialect, he says 'y'all instead of saying you all in order to seem more street and credible as a rap artist. In this genre there is an emphasis on making the words fit to a beat on the go, so it may sometimes occur that the rappers themselves may alter the words in order to make them fit better in time with the music
He also begins to talk to the audience or atlest the audiene member he hasn't quite got eating out of the palm of his hand yet. This is one of the upside for rap artists to rapping in collaborative tracks, they are able to enitce new audiences by performing with artists who also have a strong fan base.
At the end of the scond line he introduces him self to this new audience as being from Detroit and being, as he puts it, a "old Parker"; I believe this to be referring to the black hip hop artist Ray Parker JR. They both come from detroit and both make the same music therefore he is using him as a comparison, to make it easier for the audience to associate them selves with this new artist.
The Significance of the Artists Name
Lets first start with the name 'SlaughterHouse' they are group of well known rappers who have formed to create a band of rappers much similar to that of the early 00's band D12.
The word slaughter means to cut something up in a malicious fashion and then to connect it to a house means that it is probably a contained fury waiting to escape. This hidden aggression is a trend popular with most rap artists, the names fazer and tinie tempah both spring to mind. I would suggest that the idea of anger and frustration is a theme popular with this groups audience.
The Image of the artist
The second artist to appear in the video is a man called Joell Ortiz, he is meant to be a lay about rap artist who at the beginning of the video goes through transformation from zero to hero, a common themes with in most rap songs. He is at first a slob and then becomes this incredibility affluent man surrounded by friends and luxury items. By surrounding himself with prized possession he becomes a greater role model for aspiring artists and his fans.
The third presence in the video is Cee lo green, he is being represented as the main artist in this video.
As if he is the leader of the group in this song, this is most likely due to the fact that he is heard singing the chorus and this is the part most people will easily remember.
Each of the 5 artists have a part in this song and all have their own image in this song. By putting them together but letting them each have their own section creates a sense of chemistry between the artist whilst allowing fans to relate to all of the egos each rapper brings individually. I feel that this would be a nice element of the genre to implement into our because there are more than one artist in our video and listening to the track it does feel as though they all have a strong connection with each other.
