Three favourite Mura Masa music videos

What if I Go? – Mura Masa

‘What if I Go?’ was published on Mura Masa’s Vevo account on the 7^Th April, 2016 and has since achieved over twenty-three million views.  The music video was directed by Yoni Lappin, who is known within the music industry for exploring the ideas around the evermore influential youth culture within the video that he directs. Lappin especially likes to explore the idea of vulnerability within his video, and this is evident in ‘What if I go?’, where Lappin has created a triple narrative, following three young photogenic couples. The narrative captures Lappins ideas of what twenty-first century relationships are like within the outer areas of London and through this he explores the themes of flirtation, lustful attraction and playfulness. The director of Photography, Ruben Woodin-Dechamps shot the whole video in a square shaped lense, which is unconventional within the music industry. Woodin- Dechamps, has cattered gifs within the normal filmed footage within the video which is pioneering and an extremely effect idea to put across the ideas of love and romance within a post-modern society.

Within, ‘What if I Go?’ Lappin has included a range of ethnicities, which is fitting, as it depicts a viable image of modern London. The music video is shot in a wide variety of location, such as a newsagents, chicken shop, nightclub and a south London estate. The connotations surrounding South London estates within the media generally are negative, however, Lappin videos presents this certain South London estate to be warming, welcoming and inclusive. The video subverts the heteronormative discourse that are iconic for dance and hip-hop music videos. The video contains one heterosexual couple and two homosexual couples which reinforce Lappins beliefs that London is cosmopolitan and forward thinking.  The clothing worn by the actors within the video are stereotypical for young adults within the United Kingdom. The first couple are both wearing North Face Neptuse jackets, which have become iconic within Britain for representing a particular lifestyle which focuses around consumables and hyped clothing.

I chose this video as one of my three favourites, solely down to the way how Lappin is representing the future generation within Britain. I believe that his personal view of society in which he has portrayed in the video is highly accurate and he has merged the theme of young love and romance with it to create an individualistic music video. The music video, I believe complements the track, which is was made for, well and creates positive connotations around London, which is generally seen as a negative place within the British media.

1 Night – Mura Masa & Charli XCX

‘1 Night’ was published on Mura Masa’s Vevo channel on the 27^th March 2017, and has achieved over fourteen million views since it was uploaded. The music video features Charli XCX who is a leading artist within the United Kingdom and has collaborated with some of the biggest artist in the world. This Video too, was directed by Yoni Lappin, who is known for exploring the ideas of young love and teenage romance within his videos. The music video focuses on the first stages of couples relationships, were the future looks bright, but the early stages bring with it awkwardness and uncertainty. Lappin aimed to create a music video that highlighted the positive aspect of London rather than the drugs, violence and disruption that the media tends to focus on. The music video contains generic actions and behaviours of teenagers. The music video contains teenagers socialising in their bedrooms with their partners and friends, looking into mirrors which reinforces Lappins belief with teenager’s obsessions with their appearances and low self-esteems and taking long baths to reflect on their life, which present to the audience their sense of vulnerability.

 ‘1 Night’ focuses on the young Afro-Caribbean community in modern South London and presents the ideas of realism, as the relationships present grow more serious and the couples enter adulthood. The inclusion of Charli XCX in the music video adds prestige to it and adds a generic convention to an individualistic music video.  A range of locations are used such as a basketball court, blocks of London flats, a dinner and a range of bedrooms. These are all locations that are associated with teenagers and especially in London.

I chose ‘1 Night’ as one of my three favourite Mura Masa songs due to the way it depicts modern London and how it puts a positive spin on the future generation. The inclusion of Charli XCX I believe enhances the video as I personally prefer videos in which the artist features as I feel it adds a personal touch and strengthens the relationship between the audience and the artist.

All Around The World – Mura Masa featuring Desiigner

‘All Around The World’ was uploaded onto Mura Masa’s Vevo channel on YouTube on the 30^th May 2017. The music video has since achieved over ten million views. The video features Desiigner who is a leading American rapper. This feature came a year after Desiigners ‘Panda’ that went 5x platinum in America and rose to number 1 in the US Billboard Hot 100 charts.  ‘All Around The World’ was directed by Yoni Lappin, who has directed four Mura Masa music videos since 2016. Mura Masa has infused two different genres to create ‘All Around The World’, he has infused trap music with dance music to create a song which has a universal appeal, but is primarily targeting an American audience due to the feature of Desiigner.

The Music video was shot on the West Coast of America, which is significant as the West Coast is generally seen within America to be more egalitarian and liberal than the whole of the East Coast. Lappin has purposely chosen to shoot the music video in Southern California, as it is a place that shares similar beliefs and values with himself. The West Coast is known for its creativity and freedom compared to other areas of America. For example California was one of the first states to legalise marijuana and gun crime and violence statistics are lower on the West Coast than the East Coast. Lappin ardently believes in self-expressionism and individualism. These two themes are ever present in all of his videos. For instance, in ‘All Around The World’, Desiigner is being presented as a unique individual through the way he is dressed and the unconventional dance moves he performs throughout the music video. The video is taking place at dusk and portrays a self-expressive performance from Desiigner. Lappin has chosen to shoot the whole video in one take, which connotes the theme of freedom which Lappin so regularly advocates. This allows a carefree performance from Desiigner and the featuring actors to occur which matches the lyrics the song. The camera sways from side to side as Desiigner dances around the camera and extras pass by. The most significant extra, is a young boy on a bike, which Lappin is using to show the future generations which is a convention of his work. Lappin likes to show how the world we live in now is a place that should promote inclusion and set an example for future generations.  Lappin has included a shot of young men in the background playing basketball, which is a convention of this genre, as familiar sporting activities are increasingly being included into music videos as it helps to drive the narrative and allows the audience to relate to the video through somthing that is familiar to them.

I chose 'All Around The World' as one of my three favourite Mura Masa songs on the bases of how it was filmed. The technical side to music video's I believed was evident in this video and promotes how one shot takes can be more effective that a range of shots, cuts and angles. The social constructions that have been embedded into the video which strengths the representations within the video. All the participants in the music video are Afro-Americans and the video is directly paying tribute to their community. Police brutality against black people, which is an extremely controversial topic within America, is hinted at within the final seconds within the video when the camera is being elevated up and zooming  out, a police car, with flashing cirens pulls up to the basketball court. I fully believe that Yoni Lappin has created the perfect balance between self expressionism and social realism to create a modern and effective music video that targets the teenage community within America.