How do music videos use media language?

Music artists use media language to get the right style and message sent across to their target audience. The music video for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg - Nuthin' but a 'g' thang.
The music video shows the typical conventions that are used in gangsta rap music videos and is portrayed in the mise-en-scene, the camera work and other factors like lyrics.

Figure 1

The mise-en-scene is used to immediately to show what type of genre this music video is. The way in which there is a luxury car in the hood, which is a run down place in America and the contrast between the luxury car and the run down area shows how this is a rap video as the rappers would come from bad areas but have luxury clothes, cars and other material items and this video demonstrates that straight away. Also the crowd of people that are surrounding the car shows the way in which the media language is used as they are there to be a symbol for gang culture. The people who are crowding around show that they are all together and have a brother like bond and creates the gangsta rap persona they are trying to create.

Figure 2

Costume shows the genre and portrays the media language by allowing you to see the culture that the people in the music video are from. Snoop Dogg is wearing a hoodie and a cap which is the clothes of the rap culture. The man behind him is wearing a gold chain and this also signifies the rap culture by it being an expensive item but belong to a poor culture which is what rap is all about. The girls in the music video are shown as wearing very little clothes and come across very over sexualised. The women are wearing bikini tops and very small shorts and this again is the media language used to show the genre of music.Women are portrayed as weak and just a 'play thing' for a man which is shown in the video.

Figure 3

Camera work is also very important and it shows the who is the important figures in the video and as you can see from the picture above there is a close up shot of Snoop Dogg rapping which is a commonly used theme in rap music videos and this is because it shows you who is in charge and that he is a dominant figure. It is also intimidating and the low angle shot also shows his power and dominance over the people there and the audience and this is a common theme in rap music videos as it shows the culture of dominance that they live by.

The editing shows the media language as it is very quick cut and made to look even more shaky than it is because it shows the fast paced life of a rapper. The way in which it quickly cuts from the rapper to either girls or his mates shows what his life consists of and how the media language is used and the people or things that are cut to are symbols for the rap culture and how it allows you to feel emerged into their culture.

Micheal Eric Dyson stated that political rap didn't get the support that it deserved when it prominent in the 80's and 90's. Therefore it reverted to the flashy, sexualised, criminal rap which we know today and as through display it became more prominent and more mainstream. This shows how the media language is used in Nuthin But a G Thang as the media language came from the rebellious side of the industry and has stuck with it because it became the generic conventions that are used in rap today.