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When Beyoncé released her first single ‘Bow Down’, in promotion of her upcoming fifth solo album, she certainly managed to generate buzz, regardless of the fact that the majority of it was negative. The song ‘Bow Down’ reveals a different side to the humble, well-spoken and respectful women Beyoncé has managed to portray within the industry, and after stating to have gotten rid of her alter ego ‘Sasha Fierce’ (Beyoncé’s on stage persona created in 2003), Beyoncé had no persona to blame for this arrogant, tacky, indolent and laughable track. Nevertheless, Beyoncé’s embarrassing track just might have been saved by an even more laughable music video. The music video to bow down seem to cleverly turn the joke around back to the audience, as it aims to almost parody the lyrical content of the song. The video follows two women, dressed up as royalty, dancing and strutting around central London (home of the royals), this seems to match the over confident lyrics of the song, and the dance routines match the codes and conventions of the typical Beyoncé music video, however, this music video does not seem to take the BOW DOWN

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Page 1: Article review

When Beyoncé released her first single ‘Bow Down’, in promotion of her upcoming fifth solo album, she certainly managed to generate buzz, regardless of the fact that the majority of it was negative. The song ‘Bow Down’ reveals a different side to the humble, well-spoken and respectful women Beyoncé has managed to portray within the industry, and after stating to have gotten rid of her alter ego ‘Sasha Fierce’ (Beyoncé’s on stage persona created in 2003), Beyoncé had no persona to blame for this arrogant, tacky, indolent and laughable track. Nevertheless, Beyoncé’s embarrassing track just might have been saved by an even more laughable music video. The music video to bow down seem to cleverly turn the joke around back to the audience, as it aims to almost parody the lyrical content of the song. The video follows two women, dressed up as royalty, dancing and strutting around central London (home of the royals), this seems to match the over confident lyrics of the song, and the dance routines match the codes and conventions of the typical Beyoncé music video, however, this music video does not seem to take the cockiness level of the lyrics too seriously, as the royal theme of the video is cleverly done modestly and humorously.

Similar to other pop music videos such as ‘Macklemore- thrift shop’, and the YouTube sensation ‘PSY- Gangnam Style’, this music video aims to get the audience dancing along and laughing (having fun), and it does it successfully by consisting of all the characteristics of its pop genre, these include, the dance routine, the

BOW DOWN

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flashy and trendy costume, the fast pace and song matching editing and the simple narrative. This is what makes this music video a successful pop music video.

In comparison to other music videos of a different genre, such as ‘Kings of Leon-Use somebody’ and ‘M.I.A- Born Free’ (Both from the rock genre), this music video lacks a sense of thought and creativity of the narrative that most Rock/Indie genre music videos have (like most pop music videos), unlike ‘Kings Of Leon and ‘M.I.A’, this music video doesn’t seem to aim for a unique, thought-provoking or political response (as most videos of a rock or indie genre do), thus lacking a clever narrative, or any original or unique content.

That being said, it would be unfair to compare these genres as the purpose and audience expectations are completely different. This music video delivers exactly what the target audience expect from it. As the music video is pop, the audience is represented to be young, active and eager individuals, who look for music videos that make them want to dance along,

laugh and actively engage with the music video, on the other hand, music videos of different genres such as ‘Greenday- American Idiot’, aim to an audience that expects a music video to be more thought-provoking and consist of its typical genre characteristics such as dark and mysterious imagery, footage of the band playing and a well though-out narrative.

In ‘M.I.A- Born Free’, the individuals in the video, and the subject matter, both appeal and relate to audiences of both members, as the content doesn’t seem to consists of anything different genders can oppose to, such as music videos like ‘Jay-z-Big Pimping’, which is clearly aimed at a male audience, as a majority of females would be offended by the derogatory use of females and references to cars. Within this music video for bow down, the use of gender is fairly accurate and predictable, as it’s a Beyoncé song, the music video must continue to aim to empower and

Picture of ‘M.I.A - Born Free’ Music Video

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promote females and dedicate its appeal to a female audience, however, that being said, the song is known for completely contradicting Beyoncé’s ‘Female empowering attitude’, and the use of females in this production then adds humorous irony to the video.

The characters within the video most defiantly represent and appeal to the age of the target audience. Due to the characters being teenagers and doing things that they find entertaining and funny, allows them to engage with the video, as their able to relate to the video. This is different for such videos as M.I.A- Born Free, as the narrative of the video tells a story and touches or moral and political issues within our society, this allows for an open discussion between any individuals of any age who understand it.

Overall I think on a critics point of view, the ‘Bow Down’ music video is a cheap and tacky looking music video, for a cheap and tacky song, but as someone reviewing it as an audience member, I think this music videos fulfils its intended purpose successfully, as it has managed to take one of Beyoncé’s flop and embarrassing, over confident and laughable songs, and make it seem almost intentionally and cleverly terrible. For the reason that I actually find myself entertained with this video, as appose to irritated by the song, I would call the music video a triumph.

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