Jay Z is currently signed to his own label Roc Nation, which was created in 2008 as a collaboration between him and Live Nation. Roc Nation manages artists, songwriters and producers and organizes various parts of the music industry, such as tours, merchandising and publishing.
With 11 albums under his belt, I have chosen to focus my analysis on his most recent release, 'The Blueprint 3', his most successful release since his 2003 album "The Black Album". "The Blueprint 3" is Jay Z's 11th number 1 album, surpassing Elvis Presley's record for most number 1 albums.
The first single from the album was "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)".
Released in June 2009, "D.O.A" won Jay Z his 8th grammy award, as well as his second award for 'Best Rap Solo Performance', showing that the track was a huge success with Jay Z's audience. The video, directed by Anthony Mandler, was nominated for 'Best Male Video' and 'Best Hip Hop Video' at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards (being beaten by T.I. and Eminem). The video shows Jay in scenes such as an empty factory building, a bar with a band, and playing a card game in a kitchen. Actor Harvey Keitel features in the video as a card player in the kitchen of the exclusive New York restaurant, Rao's. Basketball player LeBron James also makes a cameo appearance. I see the videos rustic mise-en-scene and traditional feel very representative of the songs lyrics, in that Jay Z wants to keep rap as it has been for years, instead of being filled with overused programs and singing. I think the video has translated well to Jay Z's audience as he is choosing not to abide by new techniques in the rap world, and people respect this decision. Using Dyer's idea of representation, this video not only represents Jay-Z's values, but the values of the genre itself.
Lebron James' appearance in the video helps to emphasize Jay Z's star statusThe songs success is an odd one to describe. The lyrics are mainly criticizing the current music scene, especially the usage of 'Autotune' (a music program which effects the voice of the artist). Although popular with the mass music audience, many other rap artists have criticized this track including rap icon Lil Wayne who said that "If you take every song off the radio, what would you have? I was listening to the radio and Jay said the people don't wanna hear Auto-Tune no more. The biggest records of the year all had Auto-Tune".
The second single from the album was "Run This Town" featuring Rihanna and Kanye
West
Released over a month after "D.O.A" in July, "Run This Town" featured superstars Rihanna and Kanye West (West also produced the track alongside fellow producer 'No I.D'). As well as earning various grammy awards and being named in Jay Z's top 5 songs, the song also earned a prestigious spot in the 2009 Superbowl. The music video involves people in masks, holding torches whilst walking through what appear to be streets. Rihanna starts to sing in a park while explosions are going off around her. Then Jay Z sings his verse whilst in a temple-like area. Kanye West sings in a cave-like area holding a torch and having a bandana cover his face like Jay-Z and Rihanna. I thnk that, much like the feeling of the song, the video has a "march" and "mob" feel to it, much like some LEDC's of the world. The constant tension in the video makes me feel quite uneasy watching it, with panning and tracking handheld shots creating a rough feel. I believe it is this tension that keeps Jay Z's audience interested in the video, making them want to watch it again. As well as intriguing his audience, Jay-Z's representation is also presented slightly differently to his past videos, in that the rough gritty feel is representative of the rough nature of rap music and the gang scene. The videos director Anthony Mandler has does this intentionally, fitting into the 'Gatekeeper' Theory (White 1961) which implies that the director would choose to keep and remove certain aspects of the video, much like the Auteur Theory.
This is a shot of the mob in the video.The song itself received mix reviews, many people, including myself, believed it was a good song, but could of been a lot better considering the 3 superstars featuring on it.
The third single from the album was "Empire State Of Mind" featuring Alicia Keys
Released in October 2009, "Empire State Of Mind" featured R&B and Soul singer Alicia Keys. It is one of Jay Z's most successful songs to date, peaking in the top 3 of 11 music charts across the globe. The music video for "Empire State of Mind" was directed by Hype Williams. The video, which was filmed on location, features black-and-white images of New York City cut with full-color shots of Jay-Z and Keys performing in Times Square. Throughout the video there are various scenes of Jay Z performing solo, Alicia performing solo and the duo performing together. I think the video is brilliant, and a perfect representation of the songs lyrics expressing Jay Z's love for New York. It does this perfectly by having the city as the focus of the video by showing various pictures of areas and monuments. This is contradictory to most music videos which choose to focus on the artist or a narrative. I think that Jay Z's audience can connect with this video because they believe they are getting an insight on Jay Z's direct feelings, making them feel closer to the star. This once again fits in with Dyer's theory of representation, instead this time the mise-en-scene is representing the artist, instead of the artist representing a wider entity.
This is one of the establishing shots of New York in the video.The song itself received mainly positive reviews, with most reviews praising Alicia Keys' vocal performance, and rightly so. Many reviews named "Empire State Of Mind" as the highlight of "The Blueprint 3" and the masterpiece of Jay Zs' whole career.
The fourth single from the album was "On To The Next One" featuring Swizz Beatz
Released in December 2009 (April 2010 in the UK), the single features vocals from rapper and producer Swizz Beatz. The single received the least awards and lowest chart positions out of all of Jay Z's "Blueprint 3" releases. The video is highly surreal. It appears in black and white, and the people, symbols, and characters in the video seem to be wearing black and white colors to coincide with the video. There are short takes and quick scenes in which there are lots of biblical references. Throughout the video, there are crucifixes, angelic symbols and a skull. I personally think this is the most intentionally artistic and modern of all the videos from "The Blueprint 3", somewhat working alongside the "sheik" and streamline song, with many longer takes than normally featured in Jay Z's videos, creating a laid back feel. This could appeal to his audience as it is a welcome break to the tense and/or faster videos to come before.
This is a shot of one of the biblical references in the video.The fifth and currently last single from the album was "Young Forever" featuring Mr. Hudson
Released in January 2010, "Young Forever" featured Mr. Hudson on the chorus. Much like "Empire State of Mind", "Young Forever" is in black and white. Fitting in with the lyrics the video features various groups of american youths, mixed with scenes of Jay Z and Mr. Hudson performing the song. The video then climaxes with film from a live performance of the song in London. I think this is one of Jay Z's most casual videos, as it is not particularly trying to push any boundaries or break any rules like his previous videos, however I think that the beginning of the video works well without the music to establish the essence of the video. I also think the fades between shots of youths and the artists work well in differentiating the two, it has also influenced us to use such fades in our own video
This is a shot of the crowd during one of the live performance scenes.
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