1. Conventions
o
f
R&B

2. Fashion
•Jeans – The artist is usually wearing jeans, slightly hanging low so you can
see their boxers. They will also have a designer belt on which a few close up
shots will be done on as a form of advertising for that particular item.
•Tattoos – A lot of rnb male artists have tattoos a majority of the time they
are on their chest, if not it will be on their arms. They also have multiple
tattoos, it will not just be one.
•Jewellery – Unlike males in hip hop, rnb stars wear subtle jewellery
like a watch, chain and earring – where as in hip hop they would
wear bundles of jewellery.

3. Fashion
Hair & Makeup – their hair is always styled in a very dramatic and eye
catching way. Their makeup is also very bold and defined, especially their eyes
they always have dark coloured eyeshadows with golds which makes their
eyes very alluring. To show power some females wear red lipstick in their
videos.
Heels – R&B females wear very high heels to elongate their legs because if
they are wearing hardly any clothes the higher the shoes the longer their legs
will look. However some R&B females wear trainers in their videos for
choreographed scenes.
Jewellery – Big earrings, necklaces (for example: this picture of Keri
Hilson) but usually when they wear a lot of necklaces they are
breaking gender stereotypes because it is usually R&B males that
wear that much jewellery.

4. iconography
• A majority of R&B videos these days are filmed in greyscale/sepia tone which adds a sensual tone
to the imagery in the video. R&B male stars wear jewellery however not as much as Hip Hop stars
do because although they are trying to depict their wealth, a majority of the video will have close
ups on their bodies and abs.
Trey Songz – Can’t be friends:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArdBI_F1LKo
 R&B females are usually portrayed as soft goddess type people in their videos, but nowadays there
has been a lot of gender stereotypes being broken in their videos with the females being seen as
more powerful than the men for example Ciara’s “like a boy” video.
Ciara - like a boy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CQEvlil68M&ob=av2e

5. Music videos
• Slow R&B songs these days are usually in greyscale or a sepia tone. I think this is because it makes the
colours very soft which adds to the tone of the song because dark colours evoke emotion. The white
balance on these videos is usually quite high because if the grey in the video goes more towards to the
black side it can depict a sense of power instead of showing softness. If the video is not shot in greyscale,
the video is always softened and a lot of natural lighting is used to show a sense of reality. Slow R&B
songs also usually follow a narrative, which means having a co-star alongside the musician this is a
convention which is very common in R&B ‘slow jamz’. The co-star is also pictured wearing minimal
clothing which adds to the depiction of sexuality; there are also a lot of close up kissing shots of the
musician and the actor/actress in the video. However this convention is typically found in videos by R&B
males and songs that are about sex.

6. Music videos
• However slow R&B songs that are about being in love or breaking up, does not have as much nudity as
sexual R&B music. These kind of “love” songs are usually done by females, instead of wearing very
minimal clothing, females in these songs will wear clothing that depict them in the same light as
goddesses; the clothing will be bright and colourful to show happiness if the song is about being in love.
Whereas if it is about breaking up the typical convention that these videos use is the greyscale filter to
show emotion and they will be wearing dark clothes. A lot of nude coloured/natural makeup will be used
to convey the sense of natural beauty, because there a lot of close ups on the artists face. Some of these
types of songs have a narrative but some of them will just be shots of the artist. A majority of the time
the location for these songs will be a beach or a tropical island looking place (this will then mean a lot of
wide shots showing the location) – that’s if it is a love song. Songs about breaking up usually take place in
a plain black room which will probably have a chair or very minimal items in the room, because these
songs tend to concentrate on the artist by using close ups to show significant figure expression.

7. Music videos
• Fast R&B songs consist of bright colours, flashy cars, jewellery – almost like a party scene. These videos
involve a lot of choreography. These videos are the ones that depict R&B males in a wealthy light and R&B
females in a powerful light. The typical conventions of a fast tempoed music video for an R&B male artist
will involve being in a club, champagne, artificial lighting and women wearing minimal clothing – usually
short dresses – these videos will portray the stars as fun loving people. Another common item of
clothing/accessory that R&B males wear in these type of songs are sunglasses, they convey a sense of
coolness which their target market will find very appealing. The props in these videos are bottles of
expensive alcohol which there will be a few close ups on for advertising purposes.

8. Music videos
• Fast tempoed R&B songs by females also involve bright colours, but it not about being in the club like the
way the males depict themselves. A lot of videos by females are done in the studio because there are a
lot of special effects especially in the background (for example: Rihanna – rude boy). The typical clothing
for these type of videos are very revealing clothes with high heels to elongate legs, a lot of jewellery is
worn as well where as in the slower songs, jewellery was kept to a minimum. Brightly coloured makeup is
also worn, if it is not strong eye makeup it is usually very strong lip colours like reds and bright pinks.
These videos do not tend to follow a narrative but will usually have a male co-star or also involve male
dancers because there is usually a lot of dancing and choreography in these videos. These videos will also
portray the musicians in a more powerful light although there is not a total gender switch up, they still
seem more powerful than they do in videos for love songs.