R. Kelly feat. Usher - Same Girl Analysis

R. Kelly feat Usher – Same Girl Audience

Target Audience

The target audience for this music video is likely to be males who have also identified the ‘issue’ of being two-timed by a woman and who might aspire to live the lifestyle of Usher and R. Kelly. Followers of Usher and R. Kelly would be excited about the fact that the two stars are in one song together and also being able to see the kind of lifestyles that they live, There is an opportunity to develop and understand personal relationships between the artists. Woman and girls might also be attracted to the romantic declarations of the artists, and identify with the woman in the video and the idea of being a ‘potential wife’.

Narrative

The narrative begins with the equilibrium of establishing how busy their lifestyles are (and how successful they are). The narrative continues into a phone call between R. Kelly and Usher, where they discuss a girl they have both recently met who is described as everything a man could imagine in a girl. As the narrative progresses, the disruption emerges of the gradual revelation that they are talking about the ‘same girl’ and the conversation continues in a car and in a fancy house, which has a basketball court; this shows the success of the artists. They plan on tricking the woman to meet them at a restaurant at the same time, where they discover they are actually identical twins and the equilibrium is restored.

Genre

The genre this song would fit into would be R&B. There are many things in the video that tell us this. Firstly the iconography of R&B such as the bling, fast cars, cigars, money and clothing. There is also some stereotypical language in the song, words such as ‘homie’, ‘crib’, ‘dawg’ and these are typical for R&B. The acting of the artists in the video is also associated with African American music and R&B culture which involves lots of hand gestures and pointing at the camera.

Representation

The video/song has an unusual theme for R&B, as it shows a woman playing two men where it is usually the other way around. In the video we see two men being betrayed, but rather than have a dispute over it, they use thier friendship bond to get back at the girl in a role-reversal. There is a lot here that is stereotypical, however male R&B artists tend to be associated with extravagant displays of wealth and luxury which is also shown in this video, with expensive cars, basketball courts, jewellery and luxurious houses. Another thing i noticed about R&B videos is that woman are usually represented as sex objects, however in this video she has some power over both men. Her outfits throughout the video are revealing and exaggerate her sexuality, and the colour black associates her with danger and mystery.

Institutions

Analysis