99 Problem - Jay-Z (Directed by Mark Romanek)

Throughout the music video, the mise-en-scene represents Jay-Z to be a 'gangsta'. This includes clothing he is wearing including a baseball cap and a bomber jacket which is typically linked with a hip-hop/rapper life style. The video feature a primarily black cast which represent s the black culture of Brooklyn in New York. The fact that the video is shot in Brooklyn is to show the diversity of people who live within the community, for example the use of Jewish people and African Americans throughout the video. The whole of the video is shot in black and white which to me is an intertexual reference to old new york romantic films; which a dominantly white casts and the fact that this is almost contrasting it. Jay-Z throughout the video is shot using low angle hots. This may have been used by director Mark Romanek, to make Jay-Z look almost dominate in his environment and it also makes him look powerful and owe. Thoughout the video there is a strong sense of crime and rebellion. Various shot in the montage include prison, shootings, police and drugs which are typically associated with the criminal life style.