Codes and Conventions of R&B/Soul Music Videos

Codes and Conventions of R&B/Soul Music Videos

1. Males

   • Seen topless in R&B music videos to appeal to female audiences.
   • Men in R&B music videos wear very fashionable clothing, for example, baseball caps, baggy jeans, designer trainers/sneakers.
   • Tattoos are often shown on R&B music artists. Tattoos are seen as cool on males and tattoos are desired by female audiences.
   • Male R&B artists also wear jewellry, but often more subtle and lower key jewellrey than hip hop artists.

2. Females

   • Females in R&B music video are often wearing minimal clothing in order to attract a male audience.
   • Females also wear accessories such as high heeles shoes and lots of jewellery.
     • High heels are worn to elongate the legs to make women look taller.
     • Lots of jewellery is worn to show the audience that they are desirble and not cheap.
   • Females in R&B music videos have flawless hair and makeup to support the idea that they are perfect.

3. Vidoes are aimed at the younger generations as content can contain males and females in little clothing which may not be approved by older generations.

   • Many R&B music videos are extremely sexualised and are in a grey tone which adds to a mysterious and sexual atmosphere of the videos.

4. Slow R&B Songs

   • Slow R&B songs have videos are usually in greyscale/sepia and colours and lighting is very soft. Dark colours show emotion and natural light and colours are used to show a sense of reality.
   • Slow R&B songs often follow narrative, which results in the video containing footage of couples kissing which adds to the depiction of sexuality.
     • Shots will be of a slow and long duration to match the tempo of the song. Lots of close ups will be used to convey emotion and suit the lyrics to the song.
   • Slow songs are usually done by females and are about love, females will alternatively wear clothing that depicts them in the same light as a goddess.
   • Songs about love or breaking up will mosy likely be set in a location where it is very bare and the amount of objects in the setting is minimal.
     • This allows the audience to concentrate on the artist and shows that they are significant.
     • An artists make up and clothes will also be very natural and nude coloured to convey a sense of natural beauty.

5. Fast R&B Songs

   • Fast songs will consist of bright colours and flash cars and jewwllery.
     • Fast paced short cuts will be edited together to make the video match the upbeat track. Lots of mid/wide shot will also be used as fast song won't usually be about emotions.
   • Music videos for fast R&B songs will involve a lot of choreography.
   • Videos for fast songs will show R&B males in a wealthy light and females in a powerful light.
   • Setting will include clubs with objects such as champagne bottles and glasses being shown.