Visual Awakening: Social Issues In Music Videos

Written for LE CULTUUR (Magazine Project for University)

In December 2016, Majed Al Esa and Saudi Arabian production company, 8ies, released the music video “Hwages”, which translates to “Concerns”. The video shows women in Niqabs, with colourful clothing, being driven in an SUV by a young boy, riding bumper cars, skateboarding, and dancing.

The Arabic pop song and video’s meaning is a cultural-political comment on Saudi Arabia, where women are limited and need permission from men to do things such as driving. A caricature of Donald Trump behind a sign reading “House of Men” is shown in a scene and the lyrics say, “If only God would rid us of men.”

Music videos by both independent and mainstream artists are changing the agenda of the music industry by addressing current affairs.

Director Sheldon Candis, of rapper J. Cole’s “Crooked Smile” video says, “I think the right artists know what their mission is beyond music. This world needs more light right now. We need an awakening.“ This is what we are seemingly getting.

The nature of music videos changed with Michael Jackson, notably with his iconic 1983 hit, “Thriller”, a 14-minute mini-movie phenomenon. His work transformed 3-minute music videos into artistic visuals with depth and meaning.

The King of Pop’s visuals became the framework for the industry; Jackson’s “Man In The Mirror”, “Heal The World”, “Black or White” and “Earth Song” are some of the most recognisable videos of all time with strong social messages.

The “Man In The Mirror” video was made solely of archive footage of poverty, protests, war, and historical events, with world figures such as Martin Luther King Jr, John Lennon and John F. Kennedy – Jackson, himself, was only present for seconds.

Director Don Williams says “Man In The Mirror” was a unique video, with a huge collaborative effort from himself and Michael, which would affect both of them each time they watched the piece. “I’d walk into a stock footage house or a small TV outlet in some out of the way place and ask for their war, famine and tragedy footage. They would come back an hour later, wish me luck and would ask me how I could look at this footage over and over and not be affected. I told them I was affected.”

Don’s work with the late great Michael Jackson led him to work with other greats such as Sting, Bon Jovi and Barbara Streisand. He takes with him the words Michael said to him; “Don’t let anyone tell you what to do… and Don, only do what you feel in your heart you want to do, I would be grateful.” It is with this that Don goes on portraying real truths.

Michael Jackson continues to have a strong influence with an unforgettable legacy. Now it seems other artists are following suit. While Jackson had only the means of TV and mainstream media for promotion, artists today also have outlets such as social media and YouTube. This creates and easier platform for social issues to become a bigger focal lens.

Brandyn Burnette is an independent artist from L.A, who releases his music through Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube. He has four music videos, each with social messages, which lie in his heart. “I think it's important to express social issues simply because more people need to be aware in order to do the right things. A lot of wrong things happen simply because people are uninformed or misinformed. Nowadays even the news can sometimes be untrustworthy. So the best thing I can do as an artist is speak my truth and seek the truth.”

Brandyn says being an independent artist gives him freedom, unlike artists under contractual obligations. “I think artists are actually silenced more than people think. Most labels are so wealthy & have such major ties to brands that they don't want their acts speaking up or being political. It's that old saying - politically correct. Most people are afraid to rock the proverbial boat simply because they don't want to jeopardise a brand or need to maintain an image. I think more artists will be vocal. Dark times call for the brightest stars.”

Director Mark Pellington, who has worked with Pearl Jam and Demi Lovato, thinks artists are not pressured, but each genre of music operates differently. “Rap artists are notoriously apolitical and misogynistic… Female Pop Artists are too worried about money… doing pieces about shaming, identity, body image, which is social not political.”

Many notable artists take it upon themselves, with the help of their directors, to express ideas other than glamour in their videos. Much of the time videos are an accompaniment to a song however there are instances when they present something completely separate.

According to a survey of 40 people conducted by Le Cultuur, 60% said they are intrigued by videos portraying social messages and personal stories. One contributor said they enjoy when an artist sends a message in their videos, as it’s empowering; “It tells them they are the generation of the future, their opinions matter and what they do matters.”

Music videos are released daily, many addressing the issues of today. In some instances even before a single release is announced, sometimes for the purpose of discussion. Take YG, G-Eazy & Macklemore’s collaboration “F*ck Donald Trump”, a video quite literally about their hatred for the President.

The standout social message video for 2016 was Sia’s “The Greatest”, directed by Australia filmmaker, Daniel Askill. The release coincided with the fatal shooting incident at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 12th 2016. It was reported 49 people were killed and 53 injured during the labelled terrorist hate crime attack.

Sia’s video was a carefully choreographed piece of children dancing in an abandoned nightclub. Children lie lifeless behind bars, whilst principal dancer, Maddie Ziegler cries drawing rainbow coloured tears down her face. The final scene shows the children drop to the floor, revealing a wall behind with 49 small holes in it; a representation of the Orlando shooting. There was a tremendous amount of support for the video, which continues with over 300 million views (and counting).

An artist who explicitly makes videos for discussion is M.I.A. The British Tamil rapper faced her own share of political and social issues; her father was a former revolutionary and Tamil activist and she became a refugee during the Sri Lankan civil war.

The effect of these events resulted in her expressing issues such as the Syrian refugee crisis in the video “Borders”. M.I.A said the topic is one close to her heart, calling herself a “poster child” who won’t shy away from the issue during an interview with Al Jazeera. M.I.A’s open-nature to social and political issues has widen audiences’ eyes, through personal experience with universal understanding.

Lady Gaga is also known for actively speaking out on social issues. In 2011, Gaga released her song “Born This Way” with its accompanying video, which has 191 million views to date.

Director, Nick Knight, says, “Gaga explained her inspiration for the song and the accompanying ideas for the story that she wanted for the BTW video and asked me to translate that through my vision and collaborate to illustrate that for her.”

The video won the first ever MTV Video Music Award for Best Video with a Social Message in 2011. Gaga said in an interview the piece was there to break society’s dictation of beauty.

Nick says social messages create a new dimension between artists and fans; “Once they become huge stars, they very quickly have a strong voice and an ability to talk directly to their fans. So if they have issues they, and their fans, feel strongly about, they will get expressed through their music, performance, interactions with fans and press, and also their videos.”

Harriet Gibsone, The Guardian’s music editor, says the nature of music videos has definitely changed since three years ago, “a weird time” she calls it, with the explicitness of Miley Cyrus and other provocative artists. Harriet points out people have purely become bored with it.

She continues by saying audiences are now becoming more apathetic to what is happening in the world, with the change in politics and pop in the last few years. “Something is about to happen. With the likes of Beyoncé, sister, Solange, and Kendrick Lamar taking their major budgets to spend on meaningful pieces, many other artists will most likely follow suit.”

An artist that has taken an unknown situation and brought it to light is J. Cole. The video for his single, “Crooked Smile” had weight to it, as director Sheldon Candis explains. “Cole is aware of the times we are living in and chooses to make his music a voice for the voiceless. He saw with Aiyana Stanley-Jones that her tragedy had been completely overlooked, no one knew about her. Cole took on the social responsibility. He brought light to an injustice laying in darkness.”

As a director, Sheldon works with artists to create a vision but there is a thin line to walk in order to give the story its justice. “My only caution is making sure I am honoring someone's life and their family when telling 'based on a true story'. I would be heartbroken if my intentions as a filmmaker are good, but the family feels I let them down with telling their daughter's story.”

Music is not limited to lyrics and melody. The visuals, now, are a key platform for their promotion. The public waits to see what an artist has to offer aesthetically and sometimes glamour is what they want to see. At other times the public wants to see the artist interested in the same issues they are.

There is a change in the agenda of the music industry; the public and artists are forming a bond to speak out. Musicians and directors are recognising the weight of responsibility they hold to create an open discussion into what the world is facing.