Music Videos Case

In this paper I will talk about the different type of messages music videos deliver to young African American viewers in the past decade and present. I will also talk about how some young African Americans is influence by these music videos and how we can change the negative images that are display on music videos people view today.

In the 1980's hip hop music was known for a style of blues and soul. The music videos during that time were really focused on how people were dressed. One of the first rap videos that I have seen from the 1980's was Whodini's "Magic Wand". The style and lyrical content was very different back then compare to the videos that people view in this decade. Women in these old videos were covered up back then and looked way classier than they are now, but it was a cultural thing and the lyrical message that influenced that.

When hardcore rap came into play, messages in lyrical content change and became "real rap" as some rappers called it. The messages spoke of gangs, violence and hardship of blacks. Rapper Ice T and N.W.A turn things up in the rap industry by turning rap into "gangster rap" in the 1980s. The songs the group made sends out a message of images that

...