The music video that I chose to analyze is Elle Varner’s “I
Only Wanna Give It to You” which is the first single from her debut album Perfectly Imperfect. In a setting
reminiscent of the 1990’s Elle sings about a man she wants badly, and whom she
wants to give herself to. The video is very colorful and there are several
references and images of shoes, as well as colors and styles of dress that were
popular during the 1990s. The video also features rapper J. Cole who is also
relatively new to the world of mainstream music like Elle Varner. Alone, “I Only
Wanna Give it to You” is a song about a girl that wants a boy, but as a music
video the more complex messages are visible.
Looking at the video through a production/political economy
lens it is clear that the video is following certain cultural conventions of
our time. Like many music videos today, “I Only Wanna Give It to You” fits into
the three to five minute time frame that is ideal for distribution purposes.
Another aspect that is commonplace in our culture is advertisement and music
videos are not exempt from its reach. In Elle’s video we see the image of many
shoes but there is one heel in particular that continues to reappear in the
video. This can be interpreted simply as the shoe she loves but it is also a
subtle form of advertisement. If someone watching the video takes an interest
in this shoe from the first time it is shown and then sees the image of the
shoe multiple times throughout the video, the viewer may be inclined to find
out more about the shoe and possibly purchase it.
According to Kellner “The textual analysis of cultural
studies thus combines formalist analysis with critique of how cultural meanings
convey specific ideologies of gender, race, class, sexuality, nation and other
ideological dimensions” (Kellner, 14). When textually analyzed there are clear
ideologies of gender, sexuality and race present in “I Only Wanna Give It to
You”. Gender ideologies are represented the most by the references made to
shoes. In the chorus Elle sings “Cause I only wanna give it to you/And I want
you more than a new pair of shoes”, which supports an ideology that women love
shoes. The fact that she wants him more than new shoes indicates that she
really wants this man. The want for shoes juxtaposed with the want for a man combined
with imagery of Elle constantly being surrounded by shoes also reflects the
idea that women can be materialistic.
When it comes to sexuality the title alone can be interpreted
as suggestive. The “it” the title is not clearly defined but like any word, the
meaning can change depending on the context. In this case the title is “I Only
Wanna Give It to You”, which says that someone wants to give something to
someone else but because of the imagery and the lyrics surrounding this “it”,
it is possible to relate it to sex. To support this idea we see Elle positioned
and moving in a sexual manner throughout the video. The sexuality is not as
overt as it is in many of today’s music videos but it is still noticeably
present.
In addition to gender and sexual ideologies, racial
ideologies are also present in this music video. The visual theme and setting
of the video is one that clearly emulates the 1990’s, which is represented by
the bright colors as well as the fashion but it is a more African American
image of this time period. The setting is one that resembles a neighborhood
that can easily be associated with a minority population. Many of the buildings
throughout the video look rundown, and many have their gates pulled down even though
it is daytime which may suggest that they are businesses that have closed down.
These images are usually associated with urban areas that can be predominantly
African American and in addition to this all of the actors in the music video
are African American. When looking at the fashion there are many outfits that
could be seen on many different races in the 1990’s but what stands out as
elements of the African American community in particular were the images of
high top fades, and big long chains among the men in the video.
To analyze “I Only Wanna Give It To You” from the perspective
of audience reception YouTube serves as a useful tool. Music videos on YouTube
often allow the viewer to also comment on the video as well as read the
comments of others. Based on the comments for this video, it is clear that many
viewers appreciate the “throw-back” value of the video which refers to the
imagery of the 1990’s but at the same time there were some comments that
indicated that some viewers did not see a representation of the “90s” in the
video. The reasons for this are unclear because there is no in-depth information
available about the commenters on YouTube that would lead to an explanation for
this. To further understand audience reception of this video ethnographic research
would be useful.
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