Fireman - Lil Wayne
Fireman is the first single to be released by Wayne from his 5th Solo album "Tha Carter II". It was produced by Doe Boyz and at the time of release quickly had success to become his second most successful song release behind "Go DJ". The song however possesses lyrics that are not deemed appropriate so a different version had to be released for radio play. The song has received mixed reviews from critics as some people granted the song to have a great rhythm and tempo.Whereas others dismissed Wayne's lyrics and rapping style. In defence of the artist, the success of the track Worldwide speaks for itself. The song carries on with the hip-hop style that Wayne had been working with since his first album, "The Block Is Hot". His rapping style and voice is unique, although his mentality fits the stereotype of a modern day rap artist. He is happy to advertise his love for money, girls, cars and in some cases violence. This is how he has sold himself as a rapper and he has continued this throughout his whole career. The song peaked at #32 in the US Billboard Hot 100, #10 in the US Billboard Hip Hop Tracks and was his first song to reach the Billboard Pop Tracks. This allowed him to gain commercial success as his song was featuring across a wider scale of music. The video was produced by Aaron Courseault, who had previous success with other Hip-Hop rappers such as Warren G and Nate Dogg. The video uses conventions that are used in making music videos, but it focuses on using a Hip-Hop style throughout.
The correlation between the visuals and lyrics shows connections at various parts of the songs. With a number of specialised effects and fire appearing with the lyrics "Fireman" being repeated at the start of each verse. At some points of the video, text of the lyrics are superimposed onto the screen as he is about to sing them. The background of most of the sets he is in have some sort of fire in them, re-establishing the thought of him being the "Fireman". There are a number of close ups of the artist himself, this is typical of rap/hip hop songs as the artist generally portray themselves through music videos. Whether it is to show them living a high life, or bringing out a personality, it is a great way to construct their personality. Towards the end of the song it cuts to close up shots of his tear drop tattoos that are situated around both of his eyes, and throughout the video he advertises his hairstyle which has become his trademark as a artist over recent years.
Throughout the video, Lil Wayne costumes all show his wealth. He is wearing a gold chain with a cross showing his wealth in what he wears for jewellery. He doesn't have all the exotic locations that you might normally see throughout his other videos, but he definately shows at the start that he has money. With superimposed images on the screen appearing as he is saying the words, "Cash, Money". There is a sync between visuals and lyrics at this point. He uses a lighter and it cuts between images every time he presses down the button and the flame appears. This is the intro to the song, but does enough to advertise his wealth. He carries on with his rich, gangster characteristic which he had originally built throughout his career. This is proven when he often reverts back to being a "Young Money Millionaire" in more recent songs that he has released.
In conclusion, the video has small clever effects that are embedded such as the lighter/changing cuts idea. The constant fire in the background, in all different type of cuts work well as the idea is forfilled that he is the "Fireman". It also has time in the video to portray his overall character as a successful artist, with his gangster ways and his love for money, which he has lots of. The lyrics aren't too hard to understand, they are quite simple, but the song still is easy to listen to and the video is easy to understand and watch. This song promoted the rest of his album "Tha Carter II" and showed everyone what he was trying to do with his second album. It brought him success over different genres and more people were able to realise his music. It was a great success and is still one of his most successful songs despite the massive success he has had with his most recent album, "Tha Carter III".
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Fireman is the first single to be released by Wayne from his 5th Solo album "Tha Carter II". It was produced by Doe Boyz and at the time of release quickly had success to become his second most successful song release behind "Go DJ". The song however possesses lyrics that are not deemed appropriate so a different version had to be released for radio play. The song has received mixed reviews from critics as some people granted the song to have a great rhythm and tempo.Whereas others dismissed Wayne's lyrics and rapping style. In defence of the artist, the success of the track Worldwide speaks for itself. The song carries on with the hip-hop style that Wayne had been working with since his first album, "The Block Is Hot". His rapping style and voice is unique, although his mentality fits the stereotype of a modern day rap artist. He is happy to advertise his love for money, girls, cars and in some cases violence. This is how he has sold himself as a rapper and he has continued this throughout his whole career. The song peaked at #32 in the US Billboard Hot 100, #10 in the US Billboard Hip Hop Tracks and was his first song to reach the Billboard Pop Tracks. This allowed him to gain commercial success as his song was featuring across a wider scale of music. The video was produced by Aaron Courseault, who had previous success with other Hip-Hop rappers such as Warren G and Nate Dogg. The video uses conventions that are used in making music videos, but it focuses on using a Hip-Hop style throughout.
The correlation between the visuals and lyrics shows connections at various parts of the songs. With a number of specialised effects and fire appearing with the lyrics "Fireman" being repeated at the start of each verse. At some points of the video, text of the lyrics are superimposed onto the screen as he is about to sing them. The background of most of the sets he is in have some sort of fire in them, re-establishing the thought of him being the "Fireman". There are a number of close ups of the artist himself, this is typical of rap/hip hop songs as the artist generally portray themselves through music videos. Whether it is to show them living a high life, or bringing out a personality, it is a great way to construct their personality. Towards the end of the song it cuts to close up shots of his tear drop tattoos that are situated around both of his eyes, and throughout the video he advertises his hairstyle which has become his trademark as a artist over recent years.
Throughout the video, Lil Wayne costumes all show his wealth. He is wearing a gold chain with a cross showing his wealth in what he wears for jewellery. He doesn't have all the exotic locations that you might normally see throughout his other videos, but he definately shows at the start that he has money. With superimposed images on the screen appearing as he is saying the words, "Cash, Money". There is a sync between visuals and lyrics at this point. He uses a lighter and it cuts between images every time he presses down the button and the flame appears. This is the intro to the song, but does enough to advertise his wealth. He carries on with his rich, gangster characteristic which he had originally built throughout his career. This is proven when he often reverts back to being a "Young Money Millionaire" in more recent songs that he has released.
In conclusion, the video has small clever effects that are embedded such as the lighter/changing cuts idea. The constant fire in the background, in all different type of cuts work well as the idea is forfilled that he is the "Fireman". It also has time in the video to portray his overall character as a successful artist, with his gangster ways and his love for money, which he has lots of. The lyrics aren't too hard to understand, they are quite simple, but the song still is easy to listen to and the video is easy to understand and watch. This song promoted the rest of his album "Tha Carter II" and showed everyone what he was trying to do with his second album. It brought him success over different genres and more people were able to realise his music. It was a great success and is still one of his most successful songs despite the massive success he has had with his most recent album, "Tha Carter III".
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Again. a good piece of textual analysis Adam. Try to make explicit reference to Andrew Goodwin's work on music videos in your next piece of analysis.
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