Conventions of British Rap

Here are some examples of British rap artists below.

JamieT - Sticks and Stones

In this video we see a stereotypical British rap artist, he is white and wearing cheap looking clothes. From this the audience can assume that the character is not very well off and maybe a bit of a chav, given the typical stereotype of a youth on the streets. Some of the locations used reinforce audiences stereotypes of the character as they suggest he is a typical youth of today with nothing better to do than cause trouble on the streets. some of the locations used are listed below.

Artist at a train station.

Front door step of a rough looking house, typical of a low/working class British man

Out in public places, this shot strongly shows the aggressive nature of youths as it is from the viewpoint of the glass window that they have been damaging by throwing objects at it. The audience can therefore see these cracks in the window, as the signifier, and relate them to the signified meaning of 'the cracks' in society and how damaged it has become. This plays on the typical stereotype of a youth up to no good on the streets.

The artist singing down an alley way, a typical destination to find youths hiding away up to no good.

Plan B - Playing with fire Ft. Labrinth

In this video we see Plan B the star as a traditional British rapper, he has the stereotypical look of a British rapper, white, short hair, hoodies. The location also suggests a little bit about the characters background, there is council estate housing suggesting that he hasn't maybe had the best of upbringings. The lyrics also aid the visuals as they talk about fighting and there is scenes of gangs fighting and ganging up on an individual, this is a typical stereotype of angry aggressive youths. For my video I will use an actor that fits the stereotype of a white British rapper.

Here is an example of one of the shots in the video showing the aggressive nature of youths. the location, a park is also a typical location that we would expect to find teenagers messing around.