Video Analysis – Carina Cheng
In the music video of hip-hop artist Jay Park’s song, Sexy 4 Eva, which has been released on September 25th, 2018, Jay Park promotes positivity by bringing different people into the spotlight. In this video of the chilling hip-hop music, some particular visual elements which include characters, costumes, camera work and settings have been used to emphasize the theme of self-confidence and connect to the hip-hop style.
Differentiating with other music videos, this music video shows the moments of people’s daily life, and the characters which this video focuses on are unique. People who were being filmed include young children, old people, and the disabled. By bringing ordinary people and the minorities under the camera, an idea that everyone should be confident, no matter how old they are and no matter what imperfections he or she might have, has been clearly exposed: Just as Jay Park says in his interview that “It doesn’t matter which race, anybody can kind of relate to being confident and having that attitude and feeling good about yourself” (Herman 2018: 1).
Furthermore, the costumes in this music video are also closely relates to the theme. In order to show everyone should be confident about themselves, Jay Park is dressed like an ordinary person, not a pop star: he wears in a regular denim Jacket and a woolen hat. Because he does not wear lining in the video, he takes off his jacket and shows his tattoos confidently. From the aspect of the costume itself, this costume without lining is a preparation for displaying the tattoos, and this action was declaring to the audience that Jay Park does not care about the traditional prejudice about tattoos, and he loves every part of himself. From the aspect of the behind meaning of this costume, by wearing in this earthy clothes, Jay Park plays a role as an ordinary person who engages with the people appears in our daily life and shares his own experience with the audience. This sense of engagement which created in the video calls out that everyone should have self-confidence (Kim 2018: 111).
Besides, the theme also stands out in the technically good camera work. In the majority part, the camera was zoomed in in front of the people who were being filmed. These zoom-in shots clearly shows the facial features of the people including scars, tattoos, and the spots of leucoderma, and they also emphasized the facial expression of the people, who were laughing and smiling (McInnes 1982). The slow motion has been used in the video to emphasize people’s actions which include dancing, singing, drinking, and skateboarding. Those people’s grins, laugh, and their unfettered actions become a huge contrast to their obvious imperfections and indirectly express to the audiences that even the people who have huge imperfections enjoy their life and are confident, and thus lead to the theme. By utilizing the zoom-in shots and slow-motion, a substantial visual impact will be created to express the central idea.
Also, this music video does not only express the theme but also relates to the hip-hop style in this music: In the video, several shots shows that some people are standing beside the wall with graffiti, dancing and singing with rap hand positions. As Watkins claimed in his article, graffiti, dancing, and rapping are the main elements of hip-hop (Watkins 2008: 24). By using these elements in a video which has been filmed in the headstream of hip-hop culture, the hip-hop style of the music has been emphasized.
In conclusion, in the music video of Sexy 4 Eva, by wearing in particular costumes, using zoom-in shots and slow motions, focusing on the ordinary people and the minorities, and employing several central elements of hip-hop culture, the idea that everyone should be confident and the hip-hop style of the music is shown skillfully and successfully.
Written by: Carina Cheng
Bibliography
Herman, Tamar. “Jay Park Promotes Confidence in ‘Sexy 4 Eva‘ Video: Watch.” Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8477050/jay-park-sexy-4-eva-video/
“Jay Park – Sexy 4 Eva YouTube video, 4:57 ”, Posted by JAY PARK, ” Sep. 25, 2018. https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChASd2bPLtc
Kim, Suk-Young. K-pop Live: Fans, Idols, and Multimedia Performance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2018.
McInnes, John. Zoom Shots. Scarborough. Ont.: Nelson Canada, 1982.
Watkins, Samuel Craig. Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement. Boston (Mass.): Beacon Press, 2008.