“Fight the Power” is about resolving equality for the African-Americans in the first world. In the video “Fight the Power” there are a lot of elements which are depicted. For example the use of the S1W’s depicts a serious message of equality and justice along with fun and happiness. In the video “Fight the Power”, there are a lot of messages conveyed to the audience about Black African –American culture and equality. For example the director places an establishing shot of the Black African-American community which emphasizes unity and cheerfulness and makes the audience feel sympathetic for the mistreated Black African –Americans. Likewise there are other messages being conveyed like happiness and at the same time serious injustice. For example when the camera pans to the crowd and shows there jubilant emotions and then suddenly cuts to the S1W’s who portray a very serious look, this technique makes the audience question the unity of the people and at the same time portrays a very different message about equality and social injustice. Finally there are more messages which get conveyed to the audience in similar techniques for example when the camera is dollying Chuck D and Flavor Flav with the crowd following, we feel a sense of leadership as Chuck D say’s “Fight the Power” and the crowd chant after him, this makes the audience feel intimidated by the aggressive, but peaceful protest. And this also conveys a huge message of unity and equality.
Nelly, or formally known as Cornell Iral Haynes Jr., arose his career as a Hip Hop artist in 2002 where Nelly's second album was released and reached number one on the Billboard 200 albums charts.
Nelly’s video “Pimp Juice” is about the riches and wealth of Nelly and the objectification of women. “Pimp Juice” starts off with showing a close up of dice which is portrayed in a shallow depth of field shot; this immediately highlights the significance of the dice and more importantly wealth. This emphasizes a message of money and gambling in Hip Hop culture. Likewise Nelly conveys a very rich lifestyle, for example there is a long shot of Nelly and a girl, and in the background there are three very expensive cars. This represents the boastfulness of Nelly and his life. In “Pimp Juice” the messages being conveyed is mostly about male dominance, money and women. For example we see Nelly in a two shot with another woman; however Nelly looks as if he is more towards the camera than the woman who looks as if she is in the background. This portrays a very dominant look and signifies women as objects. The final message being conveyed to the audience is that women have two sides, one which is sexual and one which is not, the sexual side gets portrayed more in Hip Hop videos to signify male dominance, misogyny and of course money.
50 Cent was born on July 6, 1975 in , he arose to fame with the release of his albums and . Both albums achieved multi- success, selling over twenty-one million copies combined. 50 Cent’s video “I’ll Still Kill” is about prison culture and revenge. It depicts a lot of homoeroticism and hyper masculinity about this side of Hip Hop. In “I’ll Still Kill” the messages being conveyed are all about violence, racism and hyper masculinity. For example when “I’ll Still Kill” starts off there is a close up on Akon and 50 Cent who are both in vests which shows there muscles and aspects of their abdomen, this creates a very intimidating affect and portrays the message of manhood and homoeroticism. Furthermore 50 Cent says “...all across the globe like the worlds mine” this portrays that 50 Cent is somewhat a role model for the audiences and that the world follows in his footsteps. In the same way when 50 Cent looks through the binoculars to target the enemy, the director uses a point of view shot of 50 Cent showing a scope or target of the “White” enemies. This shows the violence and criminal nature of 50 Cent, Similarly this portrays the racial barriers between the white Americans who are portrayed as bad and racist and this therefore emphasizes Akon and 50 Cent to portray that violence is intentionally good against the enemy.
Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” and Nelly’s “Pimp Juice” both portrays two very different messages about Hip Hop culture as well as values. Public Enemy portrays messages about black equality and righteousness which leads to a good cause, however Nelly portrays a very negative message about power which leads on to money and then women. In “Pimp Juice” Nelly gets portrayed more whilst in “Fight the Power” everyone is seemingly equal, this shows that Nelly classifies himself above the rest just because he has wealth and women. However in “Fight the Power” the main theme is equality and everyone gets portrayed evenly. In the same way Nelly says “She only like me for my Pimp Juice”, this portrays women as objects, implying them as gold diggers and below men. However in “Fight the Power” Chuck D says “People, people we are the same” this portrays that everyone, male or female is equal and should get respected equally.
50 Cent’s “I’ll Still Kill” focuses on a completely different segment about Hip Hop culture to Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power”. They both have similarities and differences between them, for example they both talk about fighting, however Public Enemy talks about fighting for injustice and 50 Cent talks about fighting to gain power through violence and aggression.
In “I’ll Still Kill” 50 Cent and Akon get portrayed as hyper masculine, this is shown in their exposure of abdomen and muscles, this makes the audience feel intimidated but in a bad way. On the other hand in “Fight the Power” when the crowd are coming towards the camera chanting “Fight the Power”, this makes the audience feel intimidated by the aggressive but not violent protest. Public enemy’s video about equality and social injustice is very real life as with 50 Cents “I’ll Still Kill” however “Fight the Power” portrays a good cause which is fighting for injustice and 50 Cent portrays a bad cause which is fighting to gain power and respect.
Nelly’s “Pimp Juice” is about wealth and women whilst 50 Cent’s “I’ll Still Kill” is about violence and prison life. 50 cent and Nelly both emphasis on male dominance, as seen in there videos. For example in “Pimp Juice” we see Nelly in a two shot with another woman however Nelly looks as if he is more towards the camera than the woman who looks as if she is in the background. This portrays that the woman is after the “Pimp Juice” or wealth of Nelly. On the other hand 50 Cents male dominance gets portrayed differently, the director uses no women in 50 Cents video because the use of women would bring weakness and would soften 50 Cents image about violence and of course male dominance. In “Pimp Juice” Nelly says “...It could be money, fame, or straight intellect” this tells us that the women in “Pimp Juice” get portrayed as objects presumably gold diggers. “Pimp Juice” portrays a profound message about money is everything and that women crave for people with power and money. Correspondingly in “I’ll Still Kill” Akon says “...Cause I be long gone like the ripper” this portrays the violence and criminal nature of Akon and 50 Cent. It also symbolises the hatred towards the enemy and portrays that violence is intentionally good against the enemy.
In conclusion, I believe that Hip Hop culture can portray different messages about life and other people. In the three music videos we get introduced to other aspects of the same genre like fighting for social injustice and women. Overtime I believe that Hip Hop has changed from an aggressive yet not violent type to an aggressive violent type. However the use of women as objects is almost common in new era Hip Hop videos just to portray wealth and money.
Qasid Ahmed 10WW Words: - 1,667
