Critical Investigation: Project proposal

Working title

How is marijuana represented in rap/reggae music videos, such as Snoop Lion’s ‘Smoke the Weed’, and what is the effect of this on youth culture?

Angle

Are snoop doggs music videos influencing the youth audience to consume cannabis?

Hypothesis

music videos about drugs will encourage the youth to consume it.

Linked production piece

A music video about the representation of cannabis lifestyle

MIGRAIN

GENRE - The genre of the music is reggae. reggae is commonly known for its slow paced beats as it really sympathises relaxation and marijuana culture.

INSTITUTION - The institution that is promoted through the film is Ruthless Records with Eazy E and N.W.A were signed to, it also promotes record label Death Row records which is founded by Dr Dre and Suge Knight. Both of these record companies were associated with rap and hip-hop. The institution that produced the film is Universal pictures. 

AUDIENCE -  

The target audience for this music video consists of both male and females but is more appealing to males due to the iconography and the appeal of the male gaze as well as humour and the types of characters used in the music video. The demographics is C2DE and the psychographics of mainstreamers as the film is lowbrow and the majority of the audience would be able to relate to the characters in some way as they may want to be accepted within society such as the protagonist as well as experimenting with drugs.

IDEOLOGY - 

Smoke Weed Everyday is a lyrical part from the 2000 rap single “The Next Episode”by hip hop artists and producers Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. The phrase has gained usage in numerous image macros, music remixes and YouTube Poop Music Videos.

REPRESENTATION - 

The representation is fair as it shows to racial as snoopdogg  is black and collie buddz is white it really shows how the two artists can relate to the same topic as cannabis is a mind game for everyone who uses it. as collie buddz is a  American/Bermudian reggae artist his lyrics are Jamaican whereas snoop doggs lyrics are English. this challenges the stereotypes as well as collie buddz is white but he makes Jamaican music. This will also target different audiences. there is also some gender biased activity. throughout the video there is also a women who is smoking cannabis and getting high. this could suggest that snoop dogg is trying to aim this video towards females aswell. 

LANGUAGES AND FORMS - 

The denotation in the music video is clearly the use of cannabis. by analysing the first couple of seconds of the music video the audience can clearly what the music video is going to be about e.g the title in the beginning basically explains what the entire video is going to be about. the connotation is obviously cannabis as nearly most of the shots isn the music video show the use of cannabis by different people One of the main denotation and connotation is the cannabis plant. this is something that the audience can see visually and the idea of filming cannabis plants are clever as snoop doggs lyrics in the video support nature so this could mean the hes not on. What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text (e.g. gesture, facial expression, positional communication, clothing, props etc)? the non verbal structures in the video are mainly cannabis joints and smoking but also facial expression as the characters are portrayed to look high and drowsy withing the video this supports the idea of cannabis as it shows the overall effects. snoop dogg is dressed like a gangster  but also a Rastafarian as that his religion 

NARRATIVE - 

The narrative is organised and structured well. it builds up to a dilemma and shows the outcome of consuming cannabis e.g the happiness the whole video involves the idea of getting high on cannabis. this video raises a lot of controversy as the chorus is "smoke the weed everyday" The audience is positioned to be part of the overall outcome as snoop dogg is directly telling the audience to smoke weed everyday not only that but we can relate it to the hypodermic needle model as snoop dogg is injecting youngsters with the idea that smoking cannabis everyday makes you a better person. The video shows lots of lip syncing, this is essential for a music video because it shows the artist singing the song as it is being played, making it appear to be live.The video constantly references the lyrics throughout, this makes it earlier to follow along for the audience and makes it more memorable. One of the main iconography in this video is the weed and the plant the plant really symbolises how the weed is presented in the video and it can really be distinguished and also can be identified by the audience. Snoop dogg also wears glasses this is a key convention as the glasses symbolise that he has stoner eyes which mean that his eyes are always stoned by the effects of weed. many reggae artists are known for wearing alot of glasses to represent the sensation of high they also do this to hide that fact that they are stoned.

SHEP

Social:

• Drugs representation in media provoked youngsters to consume them
• Snoop Dogg changed the ideology of consuming cannabis. and eliminated the negative effects of it.
• debates still go on social media whether cannabis should be legalised.

Historical:

• When he began recording, Broadus took the stage name Snoop Doggy Dogg. Dr. Dre began working with Snoop Dogg, first on the theme song of the 1992 film Deep Cover, and then on Dr. Dre's debut solo album The Chronic with the other members of his former starting group, Tha Dogg Pound.
• Snoop has been an avowed cannabis smoker, making it one of the trademarks of his image.
• The oldest known written record on cannabis use comes from the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung in 2727 B.C. Ancient Greeks and Romans

Economic: 

• Doggy Style Records record label founded by rapper Snoop Dogg in 1995. 
• snoop dogg boosted the drug economy after his avowed cannabis smoking 
• campaign about cannabis legalisation still ongoing

Political: 

• Public Enemy started a political campaign through the use of their music. 
• Only ever been one black president in America 
• Black lives matter campaign. 
• 
  

Issues/Debates

• Representation and stereotyping - drugs are portrayed to be harmful but the stereotype isn't always true, drugs can be used for many purposes.
• Media effects - representations of drugs in music videos really challenge stereotypes in a positive way.
• News Values - Always has a negative ideology on ethnic minorities and daily stories reinforce this.
• Moral Panics - Young people are joining gangs and crime rates are starting to increase due to drug usage.
• The effect of globalisation on the media - the amount of drug consuming has effected the globalisation and media.

Theories

• Semiotics - A scene during the LA riots where there is a blue and red cloth tied together is due to the bloods and crips which symonlises everyone coming together to unify against the racism in society in America.
• Gender and ethnicity - Black males are represented negatively in the media and black females are also represented poorly.
• Marxism and hegemony - The classes in society are split up which highlights that white people in society are superior to those who are of ethnic minority. 
• Audience theories - opinion leaders can influence what the audience think; for example, snoop doggs raps are considered to be cool.
• Genre theories - rap/reggae would appeal to those who are interested in it and would appeal to mainly those who consume cannabis.

Research plan (media texts, academic texts and websites)

Media text

smoke the weed- snoop lion

Other media texts

Collie buddz

Wiz khalifa

Dr Dre

Eminem

TV documentaries

Vice documentaries

Marijuana in VICE's online den of nefarious activities, investigative journalism, and enlightening documentaries.

Academic texts/books