Conventions of Hip-Hop Music Videos

Jay z - 99 Problems

Jay Z's '99 Problems' video is set in an urban, poverty stricken area where there are several low angle shots showing Jay Z in front of an empowering block of flats reflecting the urbanized culture. This is a major convention of Hip-Hop videos, and many Hip-Hop artists focus on the aspects of Afro-American culture in their videos.

Used commonly in Hip-Hop videos, there are nearly always females whom may be portrayed as "sexual objects". As the two photos show, the females are dressed in hardly any clothing and there to serve male attention. However, this could be seen as an element of  realism as although not all, but in the real world many women are these images of half naked females and the life they live is portrayed in the exact same way in the video.






A lot of low angles are used to show the city and lifestyle in comparison to Jay Z. Many close ups, medium shots, long shots and canted angles are also all used. Shaky cam is present in some parts of the video adding a raw, authentic feel to the it.

Dark clothing and props such as guns, money, stereos are all common costume conventions of
Hip-Hop music videos.

Hip-Hop videos are often edited at a fast pace, '99 Problems' shows a range of different images and activities in the video and transition to the next image at a very fast pace which matches the pace and rhythm of the song.