R&B Analysis: Hold Up by Beyonce

HOLD UP – BEYONCE

“Hold Up” is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé for her sixth studio album, (2016). The song speaks of the betrayal of a cheating spouse. Its accompanying music video is part of a one-hour film with the same title as its parent album.

MUSIC VIDEO

Narrative: 

The overriding narrative of the song is based on life events. Beyonce is seen to be in a state of anger after discovering the adulterous ways of her husband. During the video, the singer proceeds to smash car windows with a baseball bat as she strolls down a New York street.

Camerawork and editing:

The camerawork of the video avoids using high-definition cameras; the creators went back and shot actual film. This has big implications for both the technical aspects and overall ‘feeling’ of the music video. “It’s actually a strip of chemicals running through a mechanical camera rather than a chip.” (Director of Photography, Ekberg)

The use of film creates a ‘gritty and grainy’ look, which could be interpreted as giving the video a sense of realism as it is reminiscent of a home-video sort of quality. This ties in with the themes of personal marital issues within the video. The ‘gritty’ quality also gives a more urban vibe which ties in with the R&B style of the song.

The majority of the music video takes place in a New York street setting, in which various tracking shots show Beyonce striding determinedly, baseball bat in hand. This portrays Beyonce as undaunted and powerful, tying in with the video’s concept of aggression towards a cheating spouse. The video also makes use of slow motion effects during numerous mid shots to emphasise Beyonce’s powerful walk.

Mise en scene:

Before the music video begins, a short spoken segment of Beyonce reciting a poem is shown, introducing the audience to the concept of the song and video. The segment shows the singer in a glorious bedroom, however, rather unusually the entire setting is underwater. This could represent that the singer feels as though she is drowning in her unhappy marriage. Equally, the departure from this location, seen as Beyonce stylistically exists the large doors into an open city street, could represent her moving on from her sadness, as the sadness expressed within the previous setting turns to aggression.

Rather unconventionally there is no use of lip sync within the first section of the video. This could be done to make the singer appear stone-faced in her demeanour as she is enraged about her adulterous husband. Further evidence of the singer’s wrath can be seen as she proceeds to smash multiple cars and security cameras with a baseball bat. The baseball bat prop connotes rebellion, female power, and female independence.

Towards the end of the video, as Beyonce persists to destroy a security camera, the perspective from the camera is shown using a black and white effect along with a smaller screen size. The singer destroying the security camera could represent her finally feeling free from the prying eyes of the public, and potentially her cheating husband too. Equally, the damaging of cars throughout could be done as a pop culture reference to the ‘vengeful girlfriend damaging her boyfriend’s car’ trope.

With Beyonce being considered a feminist icon, this video could also be interpreted  to represent female strength and power. The costuming of the video could reflect this idea: Beyonce wears a rather revealing yellow dress and high heels during this video. In the context of the video, this could represent Beyonce’s desire to ‘dress up’ for herself rather than for her cheating husband. This ties in with the aforementioned themes of female power and independence.

Codes and Conventions:

This video includes the following R&B conventions:

• Relationship-oriented narrative

• The narrative expresses pain and suffering

• There is a link between lyrics and visual

• Close ups convey the emotional themes of the song

• Mid shots are used

• Natural, high key lighting is used as a result of the outdoor setting

• Beyonce expresses her sexuality through provocative costume

DIGIPAK

Front:

The cover of Beyonce’s album shows the singer wearing a lavish fur coat, representing her wealth and importance. The singer is also seen with her hair styled in cornrows, which is a style of braid found in African culture. This ties in with one of the album’s most prominent themes: Black Power. The overall feel of the album differs greatly from those of a Pop genre. For example, unlike the album I previously analysed, this album cover presents the singer’s wealth and culture. The fact that the singer’s face is concealed makes her seem more vulnerable, giving the impression that this album is very personal. This, as I have previously discovered, is in fact the case; One of the other main themes of the album is being the victim of infidelity. The dark blue and grey colours, as well as the low lighting, used within this album cover further reinforce the theme of heartbreak, however also give a sense of mystery, and even strength. This is very fitting as it encompases all of the important themes within the album in one neat package.

Back:

The image found on the back of the digipak bears striking similarity to that of the front. The costuming and location are identical with the front image making it obvious that both shots were taken within the same photoshoot. This time, however, the singer’s face is revealed. The use of two highly similar images helps to create a sense of branding within the album. The bottom half of the back cover features a complete tracklist of the songs featured on the album.

Codes and Conventions:

The ‘Lemonade’ digipak follows these conventions:

• The artist is usually the main focus

• A simple backdrop ensures that the artist is the main focus of the cover

• A closeup of the artist is usually used

• The artist’s name doesn’t feature as they are so well-known

• Text detailing the album title is featured

• The colours represent the mood and themes of the album, which, in this case, includes pain & suffering

WEBSITE

Homepage:

The homepage of Beyonce’s website is very pictorial and features many photos of the singer viewed via scroll navigation. The navigation bar, which can be accessed by clicking on a tab, features pages such as Music, Tour and Shop. As the cursor is hovered over each page title more options appear. For the Music page the additional options include albums, songs and videos.

Other pages:

The other pages of the website continue in the same vein as the homepage. Each and every page is very image-oriented. This extends to both the Music and Tour pages both of which show large images of the artist. On the Music page the images display all of Beyonce’s album covers, whereas the Tour page features promotional images for the singer’s latest world tour.

Similar to the Dua Lipa website, the Shop page for Beyonce’s site redirects the visitor to a separate site which features apparel, as well as some of the singer’s designer collections.

OVERVIEW

Branding:

Beyonce constructs a sense of branding through her use of visuals across her products. The singer’s digpak features a shot used in her hour-long film ‘Lemonade’, showing a sense of cohesive marketing. Equally, the artist’s focus on visual is seen on her website which features many images.

Audience:

The audience of this video would be the usual R&B demographic of teenagers and young adults. The themes of heartbreak, as well as the feminist undertones of the video, would appeal more to a female audience.