Empire state of mind analysis

Empire state of mind analysis

I think to understand the video you have to think about Jay-Zs perspective in the song. He’s a person who grew up in the Bronx, lived a life of crime after being a drug-dealer and ended up making it big by becoming a huge rapper. At this point when empire state of mind is made he’s come from nothing to being arguably the greatest rapper of all time, owning a lot of property including an NBA team and marrying Beyonce the biggest pop star since the turn of the millennium. Also the title "Empire State of Mind" is a reference to a few songs which tie into the premise of Jay showing us the different aspects of New York, firstly you have "New York State of mind" by Billy Joel a song about how a person can only become a true artist by going to New York, but you also have "NY State of Mind" by the rapper Nas about growing up in the rough area of New York and the relentless gang war. Jay-Z has done what many dream of when going to New York a (like Billy Joel talks about) but few actually achieve (as Nas talks about) . So this song is about Jay paying homage to his hometown, and the different aspects of New York how he’s risen to the top and people generally try to do the same but fail to do.

The first verse starts with the montage of different photos of New York. The landmarks include the Brooklyn Bridge and sign, the charging bull in bowling green and Maddison Square garden. They do this firstly to give the viewer recognisable aspects of New York and also to show the bright lights of New York. The first verse is about Jay and his rise to the top so because of this the video shows Jay on the ground in Tribeca. The director does this to show Jay showing the viewer where he came from which is ground zero also the camera doesn’t move and stays on a medium shot of Jay, when Jay is rapping this is to not take the attention away from him when he’s showing the viewer where he came from and the only breaks from Jay are when he takes breaths and the piano briefly plays at this moment it shows the montage/cross cutting of what Jay is talking about (e.g. he talks about Biggie Smalls and it shows a picture of him) this is to show a visualiser to the viewer of what Jay is talking about. I think this verse shows the New York Jay lives in, the top where the massive celebs are where world is your oyster and you have untold wealth and you get to experience the great things like Jay-Z does like sitting court-side at Madison Square Garden .

As the chorus kicks in the video shows Alisha keys playing a piano with the Statue of Liberty on it in Times Square and uses a drone shot of the empire state building. They choose these locations because again they’re recognisable and they show the literal bright lights of New York. The editing is also much more active showing Ariel shots of Manhattan and also moving around Alisha using a panning shot. This contrasts the verses’ filming because the booming chorus also contrasts with Jay’s relatively chilled out verses. Alisha and her very powerful vocals is there to encapsulate the hugeness of New York (or as Alisha puts it as a “concrete jungle”) and the filming enhances this by showing us these huge shots of New York which makes the viewer if they have never been to New York quite in awe of the City. This again is showing more of the New York Jay and Alisha live in (The Celebrity side of it).

The second verse follows the same structure as the first but follows a slightly different aspect. It has Jay in a different outfit which emphasises the change of location and gives the viwer a feel of being given a tour of they City. It starts if with Jay rapping about and the video showing us Yankees stadium and the Yankee cap, and shows the montage with pictures of people including Spike Lee (a New York icon) wearing the cap, this follows more off the first verse but then it goes into the more urban aspects of New York. The montage shows things such as the NYPD, people on the street corner selling drugs, homeless people and a large family living in a crampt apartment. This all shows a different aspect of New York underneath the bright lights which shows the rougher part of New York where as Jay puts it (half of y’all won’t make it). This goes back to people trying to make it to the top but can’t because of poverty and crime.

The second chorus is pretty much the same as the first but Jay is with Alisha.

The third verse is from the aspect of people who come to the city looking for fame and fortune but lose their way and become corrupted. Jay is now off the streets in a high rise building looking away from the camera over the city and talking mainly about women who become “good girls gone bad”. I think the director does this to show the viewer Jay is talking from a more broad view than he was earlier and to give us a different feel of the tour aspect that I mentioned earlier" . He says the city is “lined with casualties” and the montage shows this by showing still shots of women who seem happy because they have designer cloths, luxury cars and have fun in clubs. But you realise what Jay is talking about when you realise these women probably are being exploited by rich men for their looks and if they have no other skills eventually they’ll stop getting attention once their looks fade and they don’t manage to marry a rich man they’re left with nothing and then then you have to imagine living a life of excess wouldn’t make a person very happy and it isn’t good for the soul. The video shows Jay praying whilst the lyrics “Hail Mary to the city, you're a virgin And Jesus can't save you, life starts when the church end”. The director and Jay use religious symbolism to show that the City can make people turn to bad things against god and make the viewer think about the effects living in New York does to a person.

The final chorus shows the video go into colour as the whole video up to this point has been in black and white. I think this is because the director wants the last chorus and reprise to go off with a bang and the colour on the stairs goes back to the original bright lights which Jay talks about in the first verse. I think the whole video shows the different aspects of New York and the final impression the video leaves on the viewer is yes the city has a lot of problems because you could be wrapped up in the crime from the second verse or you could be one of the people caught up in the city and turn to excess from the third verse but on the whole if you can make it through the trials and tribulations and make it to the top like Jay and Alisha have then the city is great.