R&B genre conventions

R&B music video conventions


MEN
Clothes
Usually the men are topless as the songs are aimed at young teenage girls. They also wear jeans which hang low enough to partly show their boxers, as well as a designer belt which will have several close-up shots of it.
Tattoos - the R&B artist will usually have tattoos, which can be seen either on their chest, arms or both, and it won't be just one tattoo.
Jewellery
Unlike males in hip-hop, R&B stars wear subtle jewellery like a watch, chain and earring - whereas in
hip-hop they would wear lots of jewellery.


WOMEN
Clothes
Women in R&B usually wear very little clothing and their stomachs can be seen a majority of the time. This is because they do this to appeal to males in a way that portrays them as objects of desire.

Hair & Make-up - their hair is always styled in a very dramatic and eye-catching way. Their make-up is also very bold and defined, especially their eyes. They always have dark-coloured eye shadows with golds which make their eyes very alluring. To portray power, the artists may wear red lipstick.

Heels - R&B females will often wear very high heels to elongate their legs because since they are wearing hardly any clothes, the higher the shoes are the longer their legs will look. In some cases though, the women will wear trainers in choreographed scenes.

Jewellery - They wear big earrings and necklaces, but usually if they wear a lot of necklaces they are breaking gender stereotypes because it is normally the R&B male performers who wear this much jewellery.


SONGS
Slow R&B songs are usually in greyscale or sepiatone. This is because the dark colours evoke strong emotions which the artist is trying to portray. The white balance on these music videos is usually quite high because if the grey in the video goes more towards the black side, it can depict a sense of power instead of softness. if the video is not in greyscale, the video is usually softened and natural lighting is used to give a sense of reality. They normally follow a narrative as well, which involves having a co-star alongside the musician. This is a convention which is very common in "slow jamz". The artist is also pictured wearing minimal clothing which adds to the portrayal of sexuality. There can also be several close-up kissing shots of the musician and the actor/actress in the music video. However, this convention  is typically found in videos by R&B males and songs that are about intercourse.

Fast R&B songs
These consist of bright colours, flashy cars and jewellery - very much like a party scene. These videos often involve lots of choreography. They depict R&B males in a more wealthy status and R&B females in a more powerful status. The standard conventions of a fast tempo music video for an R&B male artist will involve being in a club, champagne, artificial lighting and women wearing minimal clothing - usually short dresses - as these videos portray the stars as fun-loving people.
Some R&B males will also wear sunglasses, as they convey a sense of "coolness" which the target audience find appealing. For advertising reasons, sometimes there will be a few close-ups of expensive bottles of alcohol which are used in the music video.
For R&B females however, the location will not be in a club as it would be for a R&B male artist. Normally, R&B female artists have their music videos done in a studio, because many special effects are used, particularly in the background (eg in Rihanna - Rude Boy). These videos don't usually follow a set narrative, and the female artists wear similar clothes to what they would wear for slow R&B music videos. However, they will have a male co-star or also involve male dancers as there is normally a lot of dancing and choreography in these videos. These videos will also portray the musicians in a more powerful light although there isn't a complete gender switch-up, and they still seem more powerful than they do in videos for love songs.