Analysis of Jay Z - 99 Problems (Directed by Mark Romanek)

Key Points of this music video:

• All filmed in black and white
• Hip-Hop music genre
• Mise-en-scene of the video, all meeting the generic conventions (guns, urban setting, scantily dressed women, prison, motorbikes, jewellery etc.)
• Very fast shot video, gives the impression Jay Z is always moving about, never settled and always active.
• The use of CU camera shots, this would be considered the "meat" of the video according to article by Steve Archer.
• Narrative/conception based video - gives the idea of Jay Z's upbringing in the socially deprived area of Brooklyn, NYC.
• The police are represented as racist, and in a negative way ("Do you know why I'm stopping your for?" "Coz i'm young and i'm black and my hats real low?", also "Are you carrying a weapon on you? I know a lot of you are."
• There is a large use of low angle shots, which aggrandizes Jay Z's celebrity status and shows that he has moved up in the world and has now made it to the big leagues.
• Shows him getting shot many times at the end. 50 Cent pastiche? Or is this the way he sees his life ending if he carries on that way?
• Video reinforces capitalism, shows a young black child at the start of the video (possibly representing Jay Z as a child?) and then him with his expensive jewellery on etc.

R.A.