How do music videos create a sense of collective identity?

‘The media governs our reality and acts as an element of mind control’. As we are constantly being injected with ideologies and representations of youth in music videos Nikki Minaj constructs an identity for teenage girls in the way she dresses, she wears proactive clothing and labels herself as a ‘Barbie’ connotations such as pink hair and lipstick are used to reinforce her sense of innocence. However binary opposition is used as in her video ‘super bass’ she is sexualised and appears dominant and objective to males. Lacans theory of the mirror stage can be applied to Nikki minaj’s representation as teenage girls will look at her as a role model and believe that being sexualised is positive and also will mediate their identities to build their self-esteem.

In addition to this Lil Kim has been considered as a similar artist to Nikki Minaj as they are both sexualised female rappers who have dominated the industry. Lil Kim uses a lot of explicit language in her music which makes her appear as a rebellious person, which has had an effect on the way we as an audience decode information from her lyrics. In some videos Lil Kim is represented as very feminine but also incorporates masculine traits. This rational representation works parallel with David Gauntlet’s theory ‘identity is complicated everybody thinks they have got one as her identity is constantly being manipulated. The variety of misrepresentations being portrayed through Nikki Minaj and Lil Kim can have a negative effect on youths identity as they can begin to develop distorted personality’s which can have an effect on their social life’s and how they interact with others, for instance many teenage girls especially have begun to wear provocative clothing as they attempt to incorporate the proposed sexualised image from Nikki Minaj this act can result in them being  misunderstood by men as their identity is pre-judged by how they look physically.

Music videos can illustrate collective identity through the use of references to subcultures. In Snoop Dogg’s video ‘Drop It like Its Hot’ he speaks about the ‘Crip side’ which is a reference to gang culture and shows a bandana which is a symbol of his gang. Henri Tajfel’s theory of the ‘in’ and ‘out’ group is evident in this video as Snoop Dogg encourages in his lyrics the value and importance of belonging to a gang. This symbolic representation can have a knock on effect on young males and encourage them to join a gang or continue to be a part of that culture. Moreover Snoop Dogg is shown with girls who are seen as inferior objects and is also represented as a ‘player’ who is wealthy and materialized. Many youths will desire to have the lifestyle of Snoop Dogg and other rap artist but in order to get it or to reach the top of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs and be fully content they will be tempted by peers to engage with crime to get easy money. As a contrast Tine Tempah represents wealth as a result of working hard and climbing the social ladder. In his lyrics he makes references to ‘semesters’ and ‘university parties’ to show the rewards education and motivation can have. This ideology can have a positive impact on many youths as they may aspire to be successful and it will reinforce the value of education and opportunities in society.

Overall music videos in today’s society convey negative representations and ideologies that youth are accepting and becoming desensitised towards. Ace Demon said in 2003 that ‘so much money is used to produce music videos but the other bestselling ingredient is violence which is always focused on women’ this critical view can be acknowledged when we look at Lil Wayne as he is seen as a misogynist. In his lyrics he refers to females as ‘bitches’ and labels them as useless inhuman objects in society which personally I find horrific however many youths especially young females may accept this ideology and construct their identities with this perception that they are worthless and men are the dominant figures in society. Music videos will continue to glorify negativity and the question of having censorship and regulation will continue to be debated as youths are saturated with more influential and awakening visuals in music videos.