‘What’s my name?’ is a song by Barbadian artist Rihanna. The song is a collaboration with the hip-hop star Drake. It is the 2nd song to be released from Rihanna’s 5th album ‘Loud’. ‘What’s my name?’ was a commercial success , topping the US billboard Hot 100 and giving Rihanna her third number-one single in 2010 and it also became Drakes number-one single.
The video of ‘What’s my name?’ kicks off with an extreme close up, focussing on her lips, a body part to attract the male audience and her hair; to show off her trendy hair colour for the women audience to idolize. She also shows off her tattoo/bling which links to the hip- hop genre as Andrew Goodwin suggested that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. Then there is a use of an establishing shot in the music video, to show the audience where the actions take place, and in this music video the example would be New York City, which is once again linked to the genre of the successful music video. There is a use of Medium shot used half way through the video when Rihanna is dancing on the streets of the City and this shot helps her link with her surroundings. There is a two shot where the relationship between Rihanna and Drake is shown and this creates an aspiring scene for the audience. An over the shoulder shot in the video is when Rihanna is looking at Drake, this explains the intimacy between them; at this point the audience can see what the character (Rihanna) is looking at.
When the music video starts, Rihanna is singing to a steady tempo, but when Drake comes in to rap, the speed of the music goes faster as he is rapping; also there is a sense of diminuendo – the music decreases in volume when he starts rapping. During that scene, When Rihanna enters in the supermarket; there is a shot-reverse-shot as when Rihanna walks in Drake and her show an interaction. In the same scene, there is a reaction shot when there is a close-up on Drake and it shows him response towards Rihanna. As Andrew Goodwin identified that one of the demands of record labels are the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work, and in my opinion Drake has developed a motif which is rapping/singing in a reluctant way which he has done in this video. The music is synchronous as when Drake is rapping, there is action taking place between him and Rihanna, and to support that action, he says “I can get you through a mighty long day, soon as you go the text im gonna write is gon’ say” this suggests that he is interested in her and they’re sensing a relationship.
The lighting used in the video ‘what’s my name?’ is very soft and calm matching with the soft atmosphere , for example when Rihanna is in the apartment she is walking out of lighting which gives her an angelic persona. The costumes of the characters link to the genre of the song(RnB/Hip-hop), as Drake is wearing a casual hoodie and this also creates a laid back character and he also sings in this manner. Rihanna’s dressing was also very casual but along with that, very trendy as she was wearing Jack Wills, a famous designer within the female and when she wore that she set out a fashion for all her female audience. The setting of the video is quite unexpected from an RnB genre as it is in an apartment which is least likely. However, it’s set in the city which is typical for RnB but, ‘the dream lifestyle’ doesn’t feature as much as in other RnB videos. (Against conventions)
A narrative is used so the audience knows what happens next in a video. It can also create a story that the audience can relate or aspire to. The narrative of this video is that Drake and Rihanna meet each other in a supermarket and then they are living together in an apartment. The narrative doesn’t strongly relate but as Andrew Goodwin identified that there is a relationship between lyric and visuals, there are certain lines of the song that narrate what is happening in the video, for example, “I heard you good with soft lips, yeah you know word of mouth” by saying this Drake is suggesting that he knew Rihanna was into him and he was interested in her too, and this happens after Rihanna turns around and gives Drake a signal that she’s attracted to him. Another example is when Rihanna sings “there ain’t nowhere that I’d be than with your arms around me, back and fourth you rock me” when she is singing this, in the video she is cuddling up with Drake and they look like they’re having a great time together. In the music video, Drake is performing in an indirect mode, as he is singing looking at Rihanna, not singing to the audience reinforces the idea that the video is a narrative & that this is the start of their ‘relationship’. Whereas Rihanna is singing in a direct mode and this give the audience and impression that she’s singing to them and it makes them feel involved. Dancing while looking in the camera attracts the male audience as Rihanna is dancing and singing to them.
In the music video “What’s my name” there is a rare use of editing, which might be a reason why its very successful within the audience as its all authentic. However, there is a use of eye-line match when Rihanna enters the supermarket and Drake looks at her, we can see from where Drake is looking at to what he appears to be looking at (Rihanna). In the same scene, there is a reaction shot where Drake responds to Rihanna when they interact.
I found many generic codes and conventions in the music videos such as the place where the actions took place which was New York, NY is a typical place where RnB videos would take place. Another generic code were the costume and appearance of the characters such as Drakes hoodie, Rihanna’s bling/tattoos and her Barbadian dancing on the streets which is a strong generic code as Barbados is a place where a lot of RnB music is produced. The bright colours shown through costumes are a strong link to the genre and the aspiring lives which has been shown in this music video.
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