Eminem’s ‘When I’m Gone’ is directed by Anthony Mandler and belongs in the hip hop genre of music. It’s tough to find any real solid codes or conventions within hip hop because as the genre has developed, hip hop and rap has been frequently used to voice an opinion, or to announce your freedom of speech to simply to produce a good beat for a club. The two main categories are ‘Mainstream Rap’ and ‘Underground Rap.’ Both follow different rules and regulations and the conventions used vary drastically depend on the message the artist is trying to put across to their target audience. In regards to mainstream rap, there tends to be more of a party, feel good vibe to an album, whilst Underground rap centres more on an artists struggles to make a living, or their troubled childhoods.
In the case of Eminem, he tends to breach the boarder between the two ‘sub genres’ Being a white MC in a black mans game is his main star motif, already breaking the original codes and conventions that come along with the hip hop genre. He is a mainstream artist, but what has made him so respected and stand out isn’t his skin tone, but the deep, dark and extremely personal lyrical content and his storytelling ability within music videos; This is where Eminem, and his ‘When I’m Gone’ music video differ from everything and make him as an artist unique from a selling point of view. He is a mainstream rapper who doesn’t even follow a conventional beat in his songs, dedicated to predominantly, now underground, conventions within his videos.
The music video is almost 100% narrative and illustration based and centres around his daughter Hallie-Jade, mentions of his on/off wife Kim and her reactions to her father’s fame, desirability by the musical industry and his darker alter-ego ‘Slim Shady’ with no cultural refferences to Hip Hop or anything particularly music related.
There is no relationship between the music and the visuals, the only times in which cuts work along side the beat are purely coincidental, therefore allowing the audience to focus primarily on the lyrical ability, the story behind the words which Eminem fans are accustomed to. A very strong relationship between the lyrics and visuals as a storytelling piece, rather than a catchy club anthem. The intro itself is a segment created purely for the music video to set the mood which is to run throughout the entire song. After being convinced to come up and speak voluntarily Marshall, dressed in his recognisable bagging long white T-shirts and Jog Bottoms, says
‘Yeah...
It's my life...
My own words I guess... '
Immediately cutting to a home environment kicks off the illustration and Eminem is seen writing the lyrics to ‘When I’m Gone’ and the lyrics are instantly replecated visually to the audience when his daughter runs in asks where her mum is and also asks to be pushed on the swing. Eminem instantly, without second thought claims he’s busy writing a song.
There is a common tie between the lyrics and the visuals on screen throughout the entire song, occasionally in dream-like sequences such as
'She's piling boxes in front of the door trying to block it
"Daddy please, Daddy don't leave, Daddy - no stop it!"
As the visuals show Hallie literally piling boxes in front of the front door as Eminem tries leaving for work. To Eminem spotting Hallie in the front row of a concert he’s performing whilst in
'I glance down, I don't believe what I'm seeing
"Daddy it's me, help Mommy, her wrists are bleeding,"
But baby we're in Sweden, how did you get to Sweden?
What’s interesting in ‘When I’m Gone’ are the use of close-ups, where the artist is looking or even WHO is singing the lyrics. This track isn’t being sold so much as another number one hit for the artist, but as the chance to tell a story about his life in a way everyone expects and can enjoy, yet allowing Eminem the freedom to express his life’s difficulties through the only medium he can get any satisfaction out of; Music.
There is also the conflicting matter of who he’s talking to as he raps the chorus straight to the camera. Is he talking to his fans hinting possible retirement, using the camera as an intertextual pathway to his fans? Talking to his Slim Shady alter ego before killing him off? Or to his daughter, apologising for not being around for her as she grows up?
Eminem is famous for his dark, controversial and highly personal songs so as you’re watching the video you begin to develop the sense that the song wasn’t written primarily for his target audience. The lyrics are far too deep for just our own glee and self satisfaction. The only time it feels as though Eminem is addressing any kind of audience or his fans is in the first few lines of the fist verse when he’s at the meeting;
Have you ever loved someone so much, you'd give an arm for?
Not the expression, no, literally give an arm for?
revealing his arm Tattoo of his daughters face to the camera cutting to him practising the lyrics. From that point on, any time Eminem looks at the camera to sing is in the point of view of his Daughter, Hallie, or as he looks down and spots Hallie in the crowd at the concert, putting the viewer directly in the shoes of the people his own lifestyle is affecting most, very effectively making the viewers feeling the pain and emotion he has inadvertently caused by not being around. From that point on it's uncertain if the audience is committing voyeurism or not. He does acknowledge his audience and let us into the story but does that mean we're invited to see the rest the content?
Yet his is able to create on multiple occasions, intentionally or not, a very catchy beat with a heart felt story which has resulted in lots of repetition by his fans and seemt to always grow a reputation as his deepest and best songs.
There is a lot of back and forth ‘speech’ within the verses between himself and Hallie as she argues her disappointment at her fathers lifestyle and he tries, to no avail to defend himself as Marshall’s real daughter Hallie mimes her own words in the song:
This differs slightly from his previous music videos. Although he has a tendency to dress up as a woman or as the personality he’s making fun of in his videos. This is the first he has used the actual person he’s referring to; his real life daughter, going against his audiences expectations for slap stick parady.
Other common star image motifs shown in ‘When I’m Gone’ and his other music videos is his trademark bleach blonde hair, which intentionally disappears from time to time, switching with his natural dark brown colour within the music video to separate his Marshall Mathers home life from his Slim Shady stage show. Seemingly very self aware of how the public portray him and intentionally destroying and contradicting any star iconography he has in a single video. The distribution company appear so confident about the 'Eminem' label that completely destroying him wouldn't impact on overall sales in the slightest.
No comments:
Post a Comment