Summer Project: Joey Bada$$ - Like Me

Summer Project: Joey Bada$$ - Like Me

Presentation

Research

Mother Jones:

http://www.motherjones.com/media/2015/02/joey-badass-new-video-premiere-like-me-police-brutality

This article, while briefly discussing Joey's newfound prominence in the hip-hop industry as an upcoming artist, concentrates on the issue of police brutality that he addressed in the 'Like Me' video. Citing music as 'the most powerful tool when it comes to spreading messages and getting words across,' he explains to the publication that the video acted as a representation of the reality that essentially all people 'born black in America' must face and how regardless of your character you can still end up caught in the bloodshed.

Rolling Stone:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/joey-bada-takes-on-police-shootings-in-like-me-video-20150212

The Rolling Stone article not only discusses the events that take place within the music video, but also goes into how other artists within the industry are speaking out on the injustices taking place. Not only this but the quote from Joey above regarding the power of music appears to hold true in the sense that it touches on how Erica Garner, daughter of Eric Garner, released a tribute song dedicated to him.

BET:

http://www.bet.com/music/photos/2015/02/rap-videos-that-address-police-brutality.html?cid=googleplus#!021215-Music-Rap-Videos-That-Addressed-Police-Brutality-Joey-Badass

In talking about rap videos that address the issue of police brutality, 'Like Me' is selected to be part of the slideshow. As shown with the picture of Joey with his hands raised moments before he's about to be murdered, it's described how the video details the danger young black men in America face regardless of them surrendering to authority and in doing so, also refers to one of the offshoots of the issue - #BlackLivesMatter.

HipHopDX:

http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.32526/title.joey-bada-addresses-police-brutality-in-like-me-video

This article in a similar fashion to the Rolling Stone one, talks not solely about the events that take place within the 'Like Me' video but also briefly refers to how the scene in which Joey is killed is inspired by actual real-life cases of 'unarmed, young, black males dying at the hands of police brutality.' It brings about names such as Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin and Oscar in particular to do so.

Noisey:

http://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/blog/joey-bada-writes-impassioned-response-to-the-death-of-alton-sterling

Unlike the other articles, this one by Noisey was actually published post-'Like Me' over a year after its release. It's centred around a post Joey himself made on Instagram regarding police brutality and even racism as a whole in light of the death of Alton Sterling. It briefly mentions how Bada$$ tackled the issue particularly in the music video, but focuses on his sentiments in saying that: 'I believe they are simply trying to start a civil war within the USA amongst black & white[...] They are literally begging for this to happen so they can kill us off faster using uprising and rebellion as the excuse.'

Cabal R&R (YouTube):

Following suit with the Noisey article, this video wasn't published around the release of 'Like Me' but rather around half a year before. Here we see Joey expressing some of views on the growing racial tension and cases of police brutality in the USA, with him calling into question the police recruitment process that goes on and the amount of guns in the country.

Power 106 Los Angeles (YouTube):

In another interview of Joey, this time around the same time the Noisey article was published, we see him discussing the reasons as to why he thinks cases of police brutality have been on the rise in recent years. We not only hear him discuss some of what he went into on his Instagram post, but he also reiterates what he said in 2015 about music being so important in times like this and referring to it as 'glue' as to how the situation hasn't escalated any further than it has.

Books:

• Stare in the Darkness: The Limits of Hip-hop and Black Politics by Lester K. Spence
• From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
• Pulse of the People: Political Rap Music and Black Politics by Lakeyta M. Bonnette
• Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement by S. Craig Watkins
• Deadly Injustice: Trayvon Martin, Race, and the Criminal Justice System by Devon Johnson

Poverty & Prejudice: Media and Race - Rap: The Cry of a Rebuked People by Willie Howard:

'Most rap provides a description as well as a means of coping with the social and political oppression of African-Americans face in the United States.' (1999)

Theories:

• Binary opposition can be said to be displayed between Joey and the policemen who pursue him, or more generally - black people and the police force. Tension between the two has existed for time in memorial, and we only see the bout between them go further
• Propp's character types could make us perceive the policeman who kills Joey or just the police in general as villains whereas Joey, at least from the point where he 'resurrects' the fallen around him, would be the hero
• Todorov's equilibrium theory can be viewed here as there's equilibrium when Joey begins to get to know the love interest in the video, disequilibrium when both her and Joey as well as her ex-boyfriend get shot and killed and an odd sense of a new equilibrium when Joey resurrects and begins to walk with some of the fallen around him
• Two-step model can be said to be at work here since we see a relatively popular artist (opinion leader) shedding light to his audience the issue of police brutality that exists within America
• In turn, it could be suggested that the cultivation theory is also appropriate in this situation as by watching the video both created and shared by an opinion leader on an important issue, they begin to realise if they haven't prior to watching it that there are major injustices taking place regarding the issue of police brutality and racism as a whole

MIGRAIN key concept research

Media Representations

• Within the music video the main group that is represented is young black people, particularly black males. Although we are initially presented with what could arguably be an alternative representation of young black people through Joey as he's shown being, as he puts it himself, 'the cool guy who is away from all the violence,' we're presented with a more familiar sight with the love interest's ex-boyfriend. He alternatively conforms with the stereotypes of young black males in the media, with him portrayed as a gangbanger as evidenced by him and a number of others holding someone up. Additionally though, another group we see being presented is the police force. They're presented in the exact same fashion as they are within current media, as being quite menacing in their ways, particularly towards young black males in particular due to the surge in shootings of them. However what's quite interesting here is that the officer who shoots and kills Joey appears to be black and this is a completely different depiction of what we're usually used to seeing of police killings. As a whole we're more accustomed to seeing a black male on the receiving end but a white police officer pulling the trigger.
• In the case of blacks males, this representation is done as a way of showing it tends to often be the case that innocent people are losing their lives to police brutality. Rather than feeding into misconceptions that the individuals being killed have a criminal history, it shows that more often that not those who've done no wrong become 'mixed in the loop' of the situation. Furthermore the police are presented as being quite trigger-happy in their manner and this is likely to simply bring it to the attention of viewers of the video that there really is a problem in the subject of police brutality if they didn't know it already.
• The representation of black people within the video can be said to be quite fair as it is often the case that people who've done nothing wrong in the eyes of the law can have their lives taken without a justifiable reason. Cases like this can be seen with the shootings of both Philando Castile and Alton Sterling as well as a number of others. The representation of the police can be said to be accurate too in that it matches up with the increase in police shootings of civilians, however at the same time it has to be said that not all cops will be as inclined to actually pull a trigger as the one we saw in the video. It's often the case that the 'bad cops' overshadow 'the good ones' in what they do, giving this sense of binary opposition within the police force itself

Media Languages and Forms

• From a denotative standpoint, the video shows us the death of a young black male at the hands of a police officer, however from a connotative one it's an example of yet another instance in such a widely intesifying issue. With how much a prominent issue it became over the summer of 2016 in the news, it's delineation in this video only helps further the awareness of what's taking place
• Although being quite narrative-based, we don't actually hear any communication between the characters go on and rather all we do hear is the 'Like Me' soundtrack. This is why facial expressions are especially significant as we can see things like the visible distress on the love interest's face when she seems to be being agitated by her boyfriend and even the pain on his face when he accidentally shoots her. The gun prop in particular is additionally very influential in the video as we see it being used by the ex-boyfriend whether it's to rob or threaten someone and also the police when it's used to kill 2 people
• The setting of the video in Brooklyn, NYC is significant in the sense that it's an urban area. What this is mainly effective in doing is getting across this idea of personal identification since it's an environment that many of us ourselves are used to growing up in so seeing some like a police shooting occurring although appearing surreal to us, is a reality to others in different parts of the world
• Sound in the case that it 'alerts you' when something major has taken place. Throughout the video we hear a smooth soundtrack which has some lyrics that link to the issue the video tackles itself. However this comes to a halt once Joey has been shot and only returns once he's been ressurrected. This sequence in between where we can only hear the howling of the wind really helps allow the audience to dwell and take in all that has happened as we realise that yet another person has been killed to police brutality. This is representative of the power that sound has in the video
• Iconography that sticks out especially in the music video is firearms. Throughout the video whether it's in the hands of a criminal or the police, the gun appears as both a pivotal and all-powerful object. While this might just be for the sake of progression in the narrative, it has to be said that it really does seem that this targets yet another issue ingrained in American society - gun violence. Whether it's intentional or not though, just adds to the ambiguity that the video itself has
• The shooting of Joey is what stands out in terms of the combined usage of sound and visuals. With the sound cutting out completely after the second gunshot, bar the ominous howling of the wind, and blood splattering on the screen, it dawns on the viewers how tragic the event that took place is

Narrative

• In a way dissimilar to most other videos in its genre, the Like Me video features a linear narrative to help tell the story that takes place within it. Towards the tail end of the video though, we come to the realisation that what took place was all a dream and things end up rolling out in a different way
• The audience for the video are positioned in a way that they feel empathetic towards to Joey in particular, with the events that lead up to his 'death' in the video. The audience throughout the piece are onlookers to the things going on, perhaps linking with voyeurism, and what they can clearly see is that although Joey himself is innocent he still ends up being part of a neverending cycle
• Being the main character in the video Joey is portrayed as being an ordinary person alike to many of us, just becoming acquainted with the love interest in the video and eventually becoming more romantically involved with her - successful romance and love line of appeal. The ex-boyfriend of the love interest though, through his more abusive nature towards her and criminal lifestyle immediately strikes as more of a villain, this reaching its peak when he threatens to shoot Joey prompting the involvement of the police. This villain label is then passed over to the police general police force when an officer shoots and kills Joey.
• As said before, Joey is portrayed as being just a 'normal person' and someone that young people in particular can identify with, with things like his clothing and even his more romantic endeavours - personal identity (Katz and Blumler). A sense of alienation can be said to exist between the ex-boyfriend and the majority of the audience though with his more crime-based undertakings, and this just works to really get this idea of him being a villain across effectively
• Being a music video, sound in particular has the biggest role in delivering the narrative of it. This is particularly evident when moments before Bada$$ gets shot we hear the lyrics: 'I pray there's hope for a n***a like me.' A few seconds after this we hear those two impactful gunshots that make us realise that the one person we could identify with is gone. This is further aided in particular by the blood splattering on the camera lens itself, really immersing the audience in that point of the video in particular

Genre

• The genre this video belongs in is hip-hop
• Conventions of hip-hop videos that appear within the Like Me video only begin to really show up towards the end of it in which we're presented with mid-shots of Joey and the others around him bouncing their arms in sync with the beat of the song. Other than that it's particularly light on these general conventions, although it could be said that things like the Supreme hoodie and Nike Air Forces feed act as them since wearing the more popular brands in fashion is quite a notable feature for people within hip-hop
• One of the more iconographic elements we see in the music video is the urban location. Set in Brooklyn, we're presented by a lot of grey buildings adding to this idea of a 'concrete jungle,' something we're often presented with in hip-hop. Another element that could arguably be iconographic is the gun we see brandished by the love interest's ex. This could be said since hip-hop videos are often known for having things like firearms on display in them and along with this were the blue bandanas which have connotations of gang violence
• The major themes we see presented in this video are police brutality for one and racial discrimination
• As a whole the video doesn't conform to the general characteristics of hip-hop videos to quite a large extent. It doesn't portray women as being interchangeable, doesn't glorify gang violence and neither does it work to aid the braggadocio of the artist himself, all things we typically see in hip hop music videos. In this sense the generic expectations of the audience aren't really fulfilled at all and rather the video ignores a lot of these in place for a more meaningful narrative-based affair on a significant current issue
• The star of the video comes in the form of the hip-hop artist himself - Joey Bada$$. Being apart of what's called the 'new school of rappers,' he's often renowned for his socio-political and 'conscious' subject matter, so him doing a video like this which matches up exactly with that only helps further the credibility of his take on the issue

Media Institutions

• From an institutional standpoint the source of the music video is Pro Era - the record label Joey is apart of
• We see the label's identity being an influence through the more 'conscious' direction the video takes, with the label recognised for being particularly vocal on world issues such as racial discrimination and just being quite anti-establishment as a whole - non-conformity
• As an independent record label, we know that the institution is a commercial one. However it's clear that this element was not something the that was focused on with the label logo only being present in the video as a watermark and the appearance of other brands such as Nike and Supreme
• The parent company and owner of the label is Cinematic Music Group  (CMG) which is apart of the Sony Music Entertainment (SME). The distribution company, RED, is also owned by SME. From a promotion and advertising standpoint, this is significant since it means that content produced by the Pro Era record label has the potential to reach a much greater audience than it may have without the help of such a huge label. Major label or not though, we see that it doesn't necessarily restrain Pro Era from exploring the issues they wish too - their creativity still shining through

Media Values and Ideology

• The values and ideologies we're presented with in 'Like Me' is that racial discrimination as a whole, which ends up leading to things like police brutality has to stop because even those doing no wrong in the eyes of the law can simply become another statistic due to the carelessness of one person. This too matches up with what Pro Era as an institution is associated with as said before, blasting things like discrimination and the establishment that exists in the world

Media Audiences

• In terms of demographics and psychographics respectively, this video would mainly appeal to teenagers and young adults part of the reformers psychographics group. This can be suggested since hip-hop is genre that tends to nowadays be associated young people in particular. Simultaneously they would also be placed in the reformers group for the non-conformity and social awareness the group is associated with.
• One of the assumptions that could be made about the audience is that they are already familiar with hip hop music whether it's Joey's or another artists'. This can be said since he uses terms that most fans of the genre would be accustomed e.g. OG
• The audience is likely going to access this video on YouTube where it was originally released. This is quite notable as since we know this is an online service, sharing the video to others  on social networks, which this group is renowned for being users of, is something that would be able to be done very easily
• In terms of consistency, it could be the case that the audience could actually expand to an older age than assumed just on the basis of the fact that videos that have to do with such a huge social issue can attract the attention of a range of people and not just the same fanbase
• The dominant reading of the video is that police brutality is just an ever so escalating issue within American society. An oppositional one though, would question whether the depiction of events in the video would actually be likely to come to pass in real life. As a music video, they could doubt overall aspects of the video since they may only view it as a means of a commercial institution trying to gain revenue/profit by commenting on a national issue
• The main audience pleasure that can be obtained from the video as said before is personal identification. This is likely to be through Joey, since he is the closest we can get to a normal individual not really engaging in trouble but just moving on with his aspects of life which in the case of this video was romance
• Personally, I would say that the video is quite enlightening on the current injustices that take place within the USA. I can also manage to identify with it too because I myself am a young black male. Although I'm living in the UK it constantly makes me imagine how different life would be if I lived in the States and how I wouldn't be able to do certain things I do here with no worry there and how you could easily become just another statistic, innocent or not. As a fan of hip hop too, I feel that I'm able to connect with the video even further with such an important issue being displayed through a medium that I really enjoy.