textual analysis: Keri Hilson - Knock You Down ft. Kanye West, Ne-Yo

Song- Keri Hilson - Knock You Down ft. Kanye West, Ne-Yo
Released- March 24, 2009
Video type- Concept
Directed by- Chris Robinson

The genre of this song is Hip Hop/R&B. It is a concept based video with the Keri Hilson, Kanye West and Ne-Yo rap/sing about being in deep in love with someone. This video adheres to stereotypes of videos of this genre, however it also goes against some of these stereotypes.

This concept based video uses technical codes to construct the representation of the characters in the video. The use of Mise-en-scene constructs some of these representations as the characters are dressed appropriately for a video of this genre. Keri Hilson is dressed in an appealing nature and the fact that she is lying in a bed and the male character is drawing a portrait of her indicates their equality in terms of hierarchy which does not conform to the stereotypes of videos from this genre. Ne-Yo is dressed smartly and is wearing a top hat which is a convention of R&B singers as they dress in this way. Kanye West is also dressed smartly and do not seem to behave in a similar way to other rappers as he speaks about being in love whereas typically rappers speak about living a good life and having many 'chicks'. The framing also aids the construction of these representations as at each artists' verse they are shown in a M2S with the character they are in love with and the fact that they are positioned so close to each other indicates their affection towards each other. And they seem to be proud of each other as you in one scene where it is a party setting Ne-Yo is there and sees all the pretty females but seems to only be interested in Keri Hilson which again doesn't conform to these stereotypes. The effective use of editing is indicated by the scene where Kanye West is reminiscing on his 'high school sweetheart' in this scene the frame is split into two one with Kanye rapping and the other of a black and white shot of Keri Hilson in a cheerleader outfit. This shot is effective as the use of costume connotes a high school atmosphere and the use of black and white indicates that he reminiscing and it is something that is supposed to have happened beforehand. The fact that both the male and female characters are both presented in the foreground further highlights their equality in importance.

The representation of these characters does not rely as much on stereotypes as most videos. As the female artist and male artists seem to be on the same level of importance indicated by the framing. The use of low angle shots with all the artists shows their dominance and importance. The representation of the male artists is typical to that of R&B artists. In this video women are not being objectified although Keri Hilson seems to be provocatively dressed. The use of many M2S's again represents the affection of the characters and the use of the Keri Hilson lying in bed thinking about the man she is in love with is a stereotype for females as they seem to behave in this way. The fact that both the male and female artists are positioned in the centre of the frame which again signifies their equality in importance to the video.

The artists in this video are signed to mainstream record labels. Keri Hilson is signed to Zone 4, Mosley Music, Interscope. Interscope is a subsidiary owned by Universal Music Group. Ne-Yo is signed to Def Jam Records and Kanye West is associated with GOOD Music which was set up by him, Roc-A-Fella and Def Jam Records. This video was played on MTV Base, Kiss, Smash Hits and Channel AKA.

target audience for this video is teenagers and young adults. These audiences may watch this video for entertainment value. But could also watch it for personal identity where they believe that the artists that are presented in the video reflect themselves in some way. They could also watch it for diversion purposes as an escape from everyday life and for surveillance purposes to discover what is going on in the life of their favourite artists. Post-Feminist theories could be applied to this video as Keri Hilson is dressed similarly to the women that you may describe as sex objects in other videos however she is challenging these stereotypes as she is not being objectified but instead is aiming to surpass the male artists instead of being on the same level as them in terms of patriarchal hierarchy. She also seems to represent their idea of the 'female gaze' where women actively desire men and she asserts her rights to be sexually attractive. Overall, although this video does not completely adhere to the stereotypes of music videos of this genre. Nonetheless there are still aspects that fit the typical conventions of videos of this genre.