'Rhythm and blues, abbreviating to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s.The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular.

The term has subsequently had a number of shifts in meaning. From the early 1950s, the term rhythm and blues was frequently applied to blues records. Starting in the 1950s, after this style of music contributed to the development of rock and roll, the term "R&B" became used to refer to music styles that developed from and incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music. By the 1970s, rhythm and blues was used as a blanket term for soul and funk. In the 1980s, a newer style of R&B developed, becoming known as "Contemporary R&B." '

Examples of R&B female artists include:

- Beyonce

- Keri Hilson

- Jennifer Hudson

- Rihanna

- Marsha Ambrosius

- Alicia Keys

Examples of R&B male artists include:

- Chris Brown

- Cee-Lo Green

- Bruno Mars 

- Trey songz

- Usher 

Nicki Minaj - SuperBass.

 The video was directed by Chris Cunningham who is known for directing strange dance videos and was realeased earlier this year.

- All the girls in the video are dressed like barbie dolls and dont look like real people, they look highly animated which pink hair and all have nice figures.
- They also wear very short denim shorts in part and they are not fully zipped up carrying sexual connotations and signifying nudity. Although this outfit also signifies the blue collar worker and females becoming masculine.
- The White T-shirts and blue cutoffs signify the british male and the working class. The Doc Martin boots also have been used to challenge gender theories as is the pink farrari, motorbike and plane.
- Melting ice cubes and pink ice bucket with a bottle of pink champagne and glasses are obvious fallic imagery and signify male genitalia which are all very unsubtle sexual signifiers.
- There is also a physically fit black male which is used for the male gaze and objectifies his body showing his abs and top half of his body as most male rappers would do with females in their music videos. He is acting female which again is done to challenge gender stereotypes. The two have switched roles, she is playing the male role in the video and he is playing the female role. Nicki pours the thick pink liquid onto his chest signifying ejaculation anchoring the idea that the genders of the two have been swapped and that the video is all about gender and brings in the theorists Judith Butlers idea that gender is not fixed we perform gender for the benefit of others.
- These videos have become more promenant since MTV first started playing music videos in 1981 and has since become the norm.

Comparing Maximum the hormone - What's up people and Greenday - Boulevard of broken dreams.

Geendays - Boulevard of broken dreams was directed by Samuel Bayer who is also an auteur (eg. Ravana - Smells like team spirit) The video was released in 2005 and was not shot digitally

+ The audience for he music video is 15-24 and secondary audiene people who are simply a fan of the punk/rock genre.

+ Their previous song release Holiday which may of influenced the shot choices such as the band walking around the streets of LA and then the desert.

+ The video consists of three men (the band members) infront of a screen (unauthodox)  which is meant to look unrealistic and cheap and a lo-fi asthetic look as the band dont want to be a corporate sell out and want to appear indie although they are signed to Sony Entertainment.

Maximum the hormone - (Whats up people) are a Japanese metal band. Key pioneer being heavy metal bands in alternate to Maximum the hormone EZO and Loudness.

+ The target audience for the band is 15-24 and secondary audience is those who are a fan of the new metal genre, for example New Biscuit as they are the main band in this specific genre which came about in the late 90's which critics have not just shunned but claim to have hatred for.

+ Binary opposition created between the band and another woman in the video who is by herself whereas they are in a group together. The woman is often singled out by low angled shots and has less closeups than the other band members.

+ Fish eye lense is used which could signify entity.

Comparing Periphery - Icarus Lives! and Tylerthe creator - Yonkers

Yonkers:

- The narrative in the music video is quitehard to follow at first.
- The cockcroach symbolises harted for America even though the band member is american.
- Extremely long take at the beinning of the video going against the usual codes and conventions of music video (there are also only three takes in the entire music video) and instead the camera just tracks and pans following the band around. For effects blurring and movement of the lense keepthe target audience (15-24) interested instead of using the usual shot variation.

Both videos use shadows and silouettes against a white background creating narative enigma.

Icurus Lives:
- The camera focuses mainly on the band members.
- The video is a very specific sub genre called Gent which is a small genre in progressive metal.
- Unlike Yonkers shots are never on screen for more than afew seconds and are often taken from alongside the band members.
- There are alot of two shots in the video of the band members

Codes & Conventions in Music videos

All Music videos will include: 

- Lip syncing

- Close ups usually of specific parts of the body (for example of female artists legs, eyes, hair, breasts or butt wheras for males tend to be eyes, hair, stomache)

- Faster paced editing compared to film, more shot variation.

- Music videos used to argue about post modernism (Andy Rhefeldt plays around with post modernism in his videos)

- High angled shots to single out an individual to make them look centred but also small and vulnerable.

- Low angled shots are used to make the individual powerful and promenant compared to the others.

- In bands music videos the vocalist is promenant with the most shots and closeups compared to other members.

- Some videos challenge conventions, and may only contain one take although may contain more special effects and have more visual. A band or artist may also choose to do this because they dont feel they should have to and without a music video some coporations refuse to give awards or play on music channels meaning less hits examples of these are; Okgo, The Lazy song - Bruno Mars, Yellow - Coldplay, One day like this - Elbow and One - U2.

- Multiple Layering used as an effect to make the state of mind of the singer seem uneasy or mixed up or in dance tracks when beats or lyrics repeat for example Come as you are by Navana.

- Sterotypes are used for example the idea of the 'black pimp' who rap about sleeping with numerous 'hoes' one of the stereotypes based around gender and sexuality examples of this would be in California Gurls by Katy Perry ft Snoop Dog or Trey songz ft Nicki Minaj - Bottoms up.

- Computer graphics are graphics made to show the representation of an image which can be exaggerated using specialist software and hardware good example of this U2 - Vertigo.

- Product placement is legal in music videos although some artists still do it in their videos, advertising a brand in return for a cash payment from the company. It has been done in Lady Gagas Bad Romance video and Blackberry in Black eyed peas videos. (It is illegal for BBC to do in tv programmes)

- High key lighting in Pop videos, pop videos tend to have big stars in them and they want to across as glamourous and have no shadowing in.

- Low key lighting is found in more indie and lower budget/indie music videos.

+ Some music videos purposly ignore the known codes and conventions of music video such as Martin Solveig, the director who created the music video Hello to look more like an opening to a romantic comedy film by using alot of titling overlayed onto takes and adding a narrator before the song kicks in.

Controvesty over Rihannas new music video - We found love

We found love

released: 19th October 2011.

director: Melina Matsoukas.

The director of this music video was recently slammed for by antirape campaigners who claimed the video showed a female (Rihanna) being posessed by a man and is too similar to most domestic cases although the director has recently hit back at these claims saying 'We love to do provocative imagery' and 'It's really just about it being toxic, and they're on this drug trip and that definitely plays a part, but I think it's also about being triumphant over those weaknesses, and she leaves him. It's not trying to glorify that type of relationship. The bad parts of it, that's what you don't want. In the end, her leaving, it represents her getting that out of her life'

Rihanna herself has also spoken about the video "It's probably one of the deepest videos I've ever done. It's all about love and love being like a drug. You definitely get that from this - the good feeling of it and the dangers of it. That's what this video's about."

'We Found Love' is Rihanna's new single with Calvin Harris and is the first to be taken from her forthcoming album, which is released in November'

Podcast 1

This podcast is about the basic idea of our coursework, and has details on the song we have chosen to do, this can be listened to at the right at the top of the blog.