A2 G324: ANALYSIS OF CHOSEN ARTIST & GENRE

ARTIST:

Gabi Wilson aka H.E.R. (acronym for “Having Everything Revealed”), is a 20 year old, American Singer-Songwriter from Vallejo, California. She was born on June 27th, 1997. Her birth sign is Cancer. Her father, Kenny Wilson, was a member of a local band called, “Urban Bushmen”. Her mother Agnes Wilson is a native Filipina. Gabi is an American by nationality and belongs to Filipino-American ethinicity

Before fame, she started singing at an early age and her parents supported her love of performing. Alicia Keys was her idol while growing up. Gabi became popular with her song, “Something to Prove”, which was released in 2014. After that, she released another single song called, “Prove” in 2014. Her 2015 song, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” made her more popular on the media and fans. 

It was after this performance that she developed a relationship with her idol and mentor Alicia Keys. 

Alicia even tweeted this:

She was signed to RCA Records and has released two extended plays under the label, H.E.R. Gabi Wilson was founded by Alicia Keys, Wyclef Jean and Bryson Tiller. She did really well with the first album entitled, “H.E.R., Vol 1 which achieved a number 1 slot on the iTunes R & B Chart which then kicked off her success.

GENRE:

H.E.R's music consists mainly of contemporary R&B and she often talks about heartbreak and love. Gabi does not make music videos to accompany her talent purely because she prefers to keep her face hidden. However, I will be one of the first to create a music video for her song 'Say it Again'.

CONVENTIONS of the R&B GENRE:

• Fashion – Minimalistic clothing as the singers’ target is older teenage girls/boys. 

• Jeans – If the male artist is pictured topless, they are usually wearing jeans; slightly hanging low so you can get a glimpse of their boxers. They will also have a designer belt on which a few closeup shots will be done on as a form of advertising for that particular item. 

• Tattoos – A lot of male R & B artists have tatoos, a majority of the time they are on their chest, if not, it will be on their arms. They will also have multiple tatoos. 

• Jewellery – R & B stars are subtle with their jewellery in their videos like a watch, chain and earrings. 

• Iconography – Videos are usually very sexual and the topless men in the R & B videos connotes that sense of sexuality. A majority of R & B videos these days are filmed in greyscale/sepia tone which adds a sensual tone to imagery in the videos.

• Target Audience – A majority of R & B fans are teenagers/young adults roughly between the ages of 13-25.

Music videos consist of the following details: 

• Bright colours. 
• Flashy cars. 
• Jewellery. 
• Props used, i.e. sunglasses, alcohol.