Analysis: J Cole - False Prophets (Music Video)

J Cole 

– False Prophets -

J Coles video for his song “False Prophets” is performed in a very informal way, basically walking through his day showing us, the viewers, a day in his life, in his neighborhood surrounded by everyday encounters. It's filmed in a loose, shaky way as if it were filmed by an amateur.

At the beginning of this video the artist, J Cole, is sat on the seat of a bus stop watching out for the bus. The environment he is surrounded by seems familiar according to his calm and natural attitude. The cutaway shots between when Cole raps towards the camera show snippets of children playing, men sitting outside a corner shop, people we suppose he would see on a day to day walk in his neighborhood, we see him taking pictures with fans, standing to rapping outside a house that seems familiar to him. This gives us the feeling that he is in a place he feels comfortable with, a place he is familiar with, with people he may now. We see different people from different cultures and different background at different ages. This sense of diversity makes us feel like we could also easily fit into this neighborhoods there will be someone in this video that will represent us.  He makes us feel at home with him. Awa from these scenes we see him sitting in a pretty empty bus rapping directly at the camera. This makes us feel like we are having a conversation with the rapper and therefore better understand his frustration explained in the lyrics. Through the video, we are brought back to this scenario in the bus making us feel like there is some cohesion in this video as we see this scene more than once throughout the video.

We follow him around this neighborhood, a neighborhood that we can notice isn’t the most privileged neighborhoods. We follow him into bootleg jewelry stress with sale signs on the outside, to corner shops with men sitting outside them. Form what he shows us this is not the wealthiest neighborhood and is definitely not a place we would expect a successful, well-known rapper like himself to live. He is clearly saying something about the situation the people that live in this neighborhood go through even though throughout the video he showed us smiling faces and playful kids. He is clearly telling us, the viewers, something about how we perceive people that live in conditions similar to these. That they are not always sad and complaining but the opposite that in fact they live well and are quite ok with their way of life. This message is communicated to us separately from the message he is transmitting to us through his lyrics.

In terms of the correlation between the genre of the music and the video style, they do work well together. This version of R&B/rap music is quite slow and calm and therefore this kind of video is quite appropriate. When we think of R&B or Rap music videos we almost always expect half-naked women dancing, while having money thrown at her with men in the background dressed in lavish clothing and tons of gold chains. But in this video what we see is a message of calm normality. We see something we could see ourselves doing at some point. We see someone relatable, someone, that is so far from us but also so close.

The representation of the genre is not clearly visible from the way the video is shot or even by the mise-en-scene or camerawork. This contradicts common misconception of what a rap music video should really be like. The only real way to know that this video is a Rap music video is really by listening to it as it holds no immediate indication that it is a rap music video.

Throughout the video, there is this strange, though quite a subtle filter over the video. We see everything in this bright almost neon light that gives the video quite an interesting feel. Because the video itself is filmed in quite a naturalistic way this filter helps us tell between this and any other vlog off the internet.

Throughout the video, the artist maintains the same outfit. This is quite unusual as in most rap music videos the artists tend to change clothing as many times as possible. I do however agree with the choice not to change outfits many times as it shows that this is really just another day in his life walking around his neighborhood. It shows the video was shot in one day. His outfit shows how simple the artist really is as he is wearing jean shorts, trainers, and a white t-shirt. It also doesn’t distract from the points he’s trying to put across.

Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvFDXV0VBg4