Analysis of Music Videos: 99 Problems - Jay Z

Within the music video for 99 Problems, the use of the of Brooklyn is used as the main iconography in order to make a variety of points about both the artist and the wider social issues which he is addressing through the piece of work. Brooklyn is an area of New York which has connotations of  both violent crime and rap music, which is one of the reasons why such a location has been chosen. It is also an area which appears to be fairly run down, which connotes that he is showing where he has come from to become successful, which links to the lyrics as he describes how he went “from rags to riches”. The iconography surrounding the setting of Brooklyn is also extended in order to suggest that he is the one who runs the area, because the shot of him staring down the Brooklyn Bridge suggests that he controls the bridge, making him seem even more powerful and domineering. The video has been shot in black and white with no coloured clips appearing, which could be a use of a visual code to link to the racial divide he is discussing within the lyrics, as it suggests that there is no mixture between the cultures of blacks and whites. Finally, the shots of Rick Rubin throughout the clip are used to connote that Jay-Z has made it, in his mind, as a musician - it again makes him seem more powerful and more like a celebrity within the clip.

The low angle medium-close up on Jay Z makes him
seem both intimidating and aggressive, which is a
stereotypical image within the genre of hip-hop.

The most prominent technical code which can be seen within the video are the low angle shots which are used on Jay-Z, especially at the beginning of the video. This is used to make him seem powerful and aggressive. As the shot is also a close-up shot, it has been framed so that his head fills up the majority of the screen when it is being watched, which makes him appear even more imposing and threatening. Another technical code which has been used is the fast paced editing which is evident within the video. This demonstrates the energy which is carried within the music. In addition to this, there are very few transitions being used, with most scenes just cutting straight from one scene into the next. This could have been used to connote the lifestyle which Jay-Z is describing within the lyrical content of the video, because the editing is fast and uncertain. 

The video is a part of the hip-hop genre, and it contains a fairly typical narrative because it shows what is often regarded as a typical lifestyle for somebody who is involved within the genre. Many would expect the video to contain women, chains, speakers, drugs, and so on. These are all key pieces of iconography within the video for 99 Problems, because Jay-Z is trying to demonstrate a slightly stereotypical view on the lifestyle which it is often assumed he and his peers lead - it could be suggested that these conventions of the genre have been included in the video in order to parody the genre and make it seem as if the audience are being positioned in the eyes of the stereotypical white person which is being mocked within the lyrics. 

Interestingly, the name of the record company is at the beginning of the video, announcing that the song was released on Island Def Jam/Roc-A-Fella records. This is significant because it demonstrates the divide which is within the content of the video - it is set in a run down area in Brooklyn, but Jay-Z is covered in jewellery and is showing the power which he has as a celebrity. This is echoed by the split between the two different record labels, as Roc-A-Fella is a label which was established by Jay-Z in 1995, and Island Def Jam, which was a subsidiary of the huge music conglomerate Universal Music Group. This demonstrates the huge significance which the record label has within the video, because the two differing labels in themselves show the split in parts of Jay-Z’s life. This is because he is shown as being powerful within Brooklyn, but then later in the video a policeman is shown as being domineering over him. The star in the video is being marketed and promoted as being powerful and intimidating, as this is what it is assumed the audience for a rap video would want to see. 

Moving onto the audience, the target audience for the video is most likely to be people who would already make up the typical audience for a hip hop artist. Jay-Z was already a well established musician by the time this song was released, so it is unlikely that he would be using it in order to try and win any new fans - instead the main audience for the video is going to be those who are already fans of him. The main demographic status of this target audience are going to be those in groups C2, D and E, because they are more likely to be able to relate to the settings within the video, but also the situations which are described within the lyrics. They are also likely to be black, because Jay-Z seems to be hitting out at white people throughout the video, as the only white person who is featured prominently within the video is the police officer who is trying to intimidate him. The audience would have most likely accessed the video through TV channels such as MTV at the time, as it was released in 2004 before websites such as YouTube had been launched for the video to be viewed at the time which the audience member chose. This works well in terms of marketing Jay-Z, because if his music video is exhibited on channels such as MTV then he will seem like even more of a star in the eyes of the audience, which is how he wishes to appear within the video. 

If the narrative is to be fit into Propp's theory, then Rick
Rubin is the enabler character within the video

In terms of narrative, the video has a loose storyline which follows what Jay-Z is discussing within the lyrical content of the song. This is because there is a large scene in the middle of the video where he is being harassed by a white police officer, which matches lyrical content which discusses how the officer is pulling him over because he is “young and black and (his) hat’s real low”. The theme within the storyline is demonstrating the lifestyle of somebody who has come from a similar background as Jay-Z, which is why parts of the video seem to not feature a coherent storyline, as he is trying to show the danger which is associated with such a lifestyle. In terms of Propp’s theory about certain characters which can be seen in all media texts, the music video for 99 Problems contains many of these. Jay-Z is certainly the hero, as he is demonstrated as being powerful and influential within the world of the music video. The helper/enabler within the video is Rick Rubin, because as the producer of the track he is the one who enables Jay-Z to make the song, but he doesn’t get much time within the video because his character isn’t regarded as being as important as the role which Jay-Z is playing. Another one of Propp’s characters who can be spotted within the music video is the villain, which is represented as the police officer who attempts to apprehend Jay-Z for a fairly minor misdemeanour. 

Finally, the video represents two main social issues: gender and ethnicity. In terms of gender, women are demonstrated as being repressed and subservient to the men within the clip. This is because the bikinis which they are dressed in show that they have been objectified by the men, as there appears to be a culture within the video that women are able to be bought and sold in order for the pleasure of the men. This is contrasted with the men, who are dressed in jackets and coats, in order to show the status which they hold above the women in the society which is being represented. This is a typical stereotype of a working class African-American community such as the one which is shown within the music video, because of the high levels of prostitution which are typically associated with such communities, mainly due to the references to it within the lyrics of the music which originates from these places. The other social issue which is represented within the video is race, and more specifically the divide between the white and black races. As I mentioned earlier, the video has been shot in black and white in order to connote that the divide between the two races is something which is set in stone, and that it is hard for the two communities to ever come together. In addition to this, the video is full of people who are black, but the single white person is the policeman who is shot at an angle which makes him appear to be aggressive and dominating when attempting to apprehend Jay-Z. This mirrors what is described in the lyrics, as Jay-Z describes how the police officer is only attempting to pull him over because he is “doing 55 (miles per hour) in the 50 zone”. Another point about race which is represented within the clip is the fact that the racial stereotypes about African Americans are the object of satire within the video, because as I mentioned previously,  it is as if the audience have been positioned in a way which means that they are seeing the society from the eyes of a white person, who sees the people in the clip as being violent and criminalistic rather than human. This means that overall, the representations of both race and gender within the music video are stereotypical ones, however they are stereotypical as a form of satire in order to fight back against these common representations.