60 Seconds Film.

Explore how black and white ethnicities are differently represented in 2016-2017 music videos using “big for your boots” by Stormzy; “4 days” by 67 featuring monkey, dimzy and r6; and “what makes you beautiful” by One direction as examples.

Black and white ethnicities have been differently throughout the years, especially in the 21^st century, where differences are evident and easily noticed in the music industry as the media consistently affects people’s views and opinions by supporting stereotypes.  I decided to use those certain examples, as I believe they successfully support today’s stereotypes over white and black ethnicities.

Labels

The artists are owned and sponsored by different music labels, which affects the way they are presented in their music video. The different labels interact with the way they are presented as they try to express their thoughts about different topics and stereotypes through the artists they sponsor. Stormzy and 67’s labels are UK-based musicals companies, which is why the way they present their artists is completely different than the One Direction’s.

67 is sponsored by GRMDaily, an independent Music label that focuses on grime, rap music and culture, which is also the UK’s leading grime and rap musical label. They determinate how to show and present their artists, which is usually in gangs or in the typical black hood, which again follow media stereotypes about black teenagers. Black teenagers have always been represented as in gangs or just living a bad life. The music label also has to approve the lyrics offered by the artists in order for them to be sponsored and represented in music videos. Verses such as “ It’s warzone get your bells up”; “ Free my niggas incarcerated” or “Guns, money, drugs the conversation” shows what the artists 67 are all about. It supports media stereotypes about black teenagers as it portrays what actual black people really think about it. All the teenagers shown in the video are black males, who can be seen participating in recreational drug use. This could portray their ethnicity as being criminally involved as they wear black clothing throughout the whole music video. The group 67 and GRMDaily label seem not to care about what people think about, and they therefore just present themselves how they like to be seen in their music videos.

Stormzy, however, he is sponsored by his own label, MERKY. MERKY is an official independent record label owned by the famous black artist Stormzy. After garnering attention on the UK underground music scene via his Wicked Skengman series of freestyles over classic grime beats, Stormzy released his debut EP Dreamers Disease independently in July 2014. Stormzy, however, seem like to be against black people stereotypes as in his videos a wide range of different ethnicities are seen. This is why his videos presented by his own label are represented differently compared to today’s grime music videos. The content and language, however seem not to change as a very strong language is often use in his music videos, which again sometimes link to the well-known “Gang-life”.

After being formed and finishing third in the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010, they first formed as solo singers but soon got placed as a band on 23 July 2010. One Direction were signed to Syco Music, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Syco Entertainment, Simon Cowell’s joint venture with Sony Music, is one of the world’s leading global music, television and film production companies, responsible for some of the most successful global entertainment franchises. Syco has the exclusive right to sign winners and finalists of The X Factor and Got Talent. The differences between the first two videos and the One Direction’s are pretty clear as it is another category of music. This is because, as the group One Direction won the show X-factor thanks to Simon Cowell, they are expected to present themselves in a very respectable and successful way.

Backgrounds

I believe the artists’ background have a huge impact on the way they are presented in their music videos. Looking at the way they were raised and what sort of teaching they had, we would be able to understand why they are represented in those certain ways.

Stormzy originates from Thornton Heath, London, and attended Harris Academy South Norwood. He is of Ghanaian descent. He began rapping at the age of 11 and would clash with older rappers at his local youth club. During a 2016 Q&A session at Oxford University, Stormzy said about his school years, "I was a very naughty child, on the verge of getting expelled, but I wasn't a bad child; everything I did was for my own entertainment. But when I went into an exam I did really well."He said he got six A*s, three As and five Bs at GCSE, but then only achieved a "humbling" ABCDE at A-Level: "For someone who would cuss in class and was on the verge of being expelled, it was A-Levels that showed me that in life you need work ethic." Before focusing on his music full-time, he studied for an apprenticeship in Leamington Spa and worked in quality assurance for two years at an oil refinery in Southampton.

This would eventually make pretty understandable why Stormzy music videos are different than other black rappers. Similar to the way he passed his GCSE’s with A’s and B’s while being a “naughty child”, he is trying to challenge black people stereotypes about all of them being gangsters and eventually linked to the criminal life. This would be why a variety of things are shown in Stormzy videos that are not seen in other rappers’ music videos , such as wide open spaces; daylight and different ethnicities.

South London's 67 started life as a street gang before evolving into a music and media brand that involved a number of people from the Brixton Hill area in London.

67 strove to break away from the U.K. grime scene, instead pursuing a sound that had more in common with Chicago drill, in the process defining themselves as leading U.K. drill artists. The main players in the 67 family originally included six MCs -- LD (with his iconic mask), ASAP, Dimzy, Monkey, SJ, and Liquez. 67 however, is not as famous as Stormzy or One direction, which is why limited information is found on the web about their lives. Although I believe they are more popular to today’s teenagers as the type of music they offer is different and alternative compared to other rappers. It is known that 67 is consistently looked on by the police as they are considered to also be a street gang, as whatever is shown in their music videos might be linked to criminal convictions as drugs, strong language and eventually weapons are shown.

In 2010, five boys beat hundred of thousands others to get the coveted spots in the seventh series "The X Factor". Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson did not know each other before the audition of the British talent show but they were grouped together by fate and later achieved fame in one direction. 

The members applied as solo candidates but they did not qualify as "Boys" category, thus judge Nicole Scherzinger suggested them to form a group so that they would qualify as "Groups". One Direction began toppling their competition one by one although they remained the only group in its category. With Simon Cowell as their mentor, One Direction managed to finish third behind runner-up Rebecca Ferguson and winner Matt Cardle.