The genre for Jay-Zs “99 problems” is hip-hop and we
know this because it is all about his ‘gangsta’ and thug life. This is shown
through the mise-en-scene in the music video. The way he dresses in a big puffy
jacket, baseball cap, baggy jeans and wearing tracksuits through out. Also the
setting is a rundown Brooklyn city, which looks rough and unfriendly. It gives
of this impression because the buildings in the background are rundown, old and
broken, which you wouldn’t have in somewhere like New York. Another way to tell
this is a hip-hop song is because of the lyrics. They lyrics are all about his
life and he has “99 problems but a bitch aint one’ which shows he sees women as
an object or as a pet than being equal.
Throughout the video, they keep showing exit signs out
of Brooklyn, and he is continually in various music shops, which gives you the
reason to believe that he wants to get out of Brooklyn and leave behind the ‘gangsta’
life via music.
