Roll deep – when I’m ‘ere

Analysis of music videos

Video analysis

For my third video of Wiley’s, I chose to do a Roll

Deep song, as Wiley created Roll Deep. The

song I’m analysing is ‘When I’m Ere’ and involves

Roachee, Wiley, Scratchy, Trim, Manga, Breeze,

Flowdan and Jet Le.

Genre

The genre of ‘When I’m ‘ere’ is grime. This video

complements the origins of grime, with it being a

hood video.

I feel the audience for this video will be limited.

This is because it is a hood video, targeting a

younger audience directly. It is the typical

stereotype of youths of today, and they are

naturally discriminated against.

It follows grim conventions by involving a lot of

intimidating figures. Roll Deep want to show fear,

therefore, the setting and clothing have to be

dark.

Audience

The demographic that this song will appeal to

would be a younger generation. They could be

believed to be working class too. This is outlined

as the shoot is not very expensive and is based

on an estate. Also, the lighting isn’t present as

much, therefore it is a very dark video connoting

a younger demographic.

Furthermore, there are a lot of low angles shown

in this video, this is to prove intimidation. There

are no special effects shown in this video,

connotational of grime videos.

Narrative

The story behind this video is a crew walking

around their own area, talking about when and

why they are there. This is where the song title

‘When I’m ‘ere’ originated from. The clothing in

this video for all of the characters is a black

tracksuit, and some have additional extras such

as a hat. This is to show working class roots,

seen as they are rapping about their own council

estate.

Representation

This video is a hood video, therefore, male gaze

would not be constructed. There are no females

in the diegesis, for that reason it would be

impossible to create a male gaze in order to sell

the product.

Personally, I don’t think star image is shown in

this video. Although I believe that the artist’s

would like to be seen as intimidating.

Furthermore, it seems like they want to be

portrayed as working class, due to the choice of

mise-en-scene.

Characteristics

I believe the main characteristic of this video is

the black tracksuit used by every artist. This was

in fashion at the time of releasing this video.

Visuals/lyrics

When Wiley says ‘I make your whole crew sound

lame when I’m ‘ere’ he walks past an unknown

crew. Also, when Flowdan raps ‘so shut your big

face’ he covers his own face with his hood as if its

an impression of what the viewers should be

doing.

Visuals/music

The chorus of this song is quite slow, so whoever

is miming the chorus walks really slow. However,

the rhythm picks up so do the characters. So, the

pace of the song determines the pace that the

characters walk at.

Artist There are a lot of close ups shown of the artists in

this video. They are also shown at low angles to

make the artist appear bigger. The mise-en-scene

in this video such as the estate (setting) and

tracksuits (clothing) could be their motifs.

Intertexuality and voyeurism

There isn’t a voyeuristic approach in this video,

as well as there being no intertexuality shown.