Rizzle Kicks Video Deconstruction

Rizzle Kicks- When I Was a Youngster   Signed to Island Records   Genre: Hip Hop

SHOT: Medium Wide

LYRICS: ‘the second I got old enough to buy myself a cider can, yeah, I was a smart little kid’

EDIT: Cuts to next shot

ANALYSIS: The lighting in this shot reflects the upbeat tempo of the music. This shot is very unconventional of a rap/ hip-hop music video. The duo is stood in a doorway; this suggests their down to earth nature. One member of the duo is wearing an astronaut helmet and the other a fireman’s hat. This links to the title and lyrics of the song about when they were younger and what they wanted to be. Rap and hip-hop artists are stereotyped for using sex, drugs and alcohol in their lyrics. Although this song talks about alcohol, the video is very comical, completely challenging the hip-hop/ rap artist stereotype. This makes the song appeal to a wider audience.

SHOT: Two shot

LYRICS: ‘Back when I was younger I wanted to be everything on the planet, (on the on the on the planet)’

EDIT: Cuts to next shot

ANALYSIS: In this shot the location is a children’s play park. We can see the duo comically dancing while we see them singing to the song. One of them is at the front with his arm in the air and the other is stood on the slide. They are acting out not just any children, but themselves when they were younger. This reflects the lyrics of the song. The lighting is very bright, suggesting the link to the happy atmosphere that is in a play park for children.

SHOT: Medium Wide

LYRICS: ‘yeah yeah yeah yeah’

EDIT: Cuts to a shot of the other member of the duo and his younger self dressed as cowboys

ANALYSIS: In this shot on the right we can see one member of the duo dressed as an Indian. This again is showing him doing something that he would have done when he was a child, linking to the song title and the lyrics of the song. To the left of him is a young boy also dressed as an Indian. The boy has been chosen to be in the video because he looks like what this member of the duo would have looked like at that age. This again shows the comical side of the music video, challenging the hip-hop/rap artist stereotype.