Nicki Minaj & David Guetta - "Hey Mama" Codes & Conventions

Nicki Minaj & David Guetta - "Hey Mama"

Close up shot of Nicki Minaj

Establishing shot of Nicki Minaj - showcasing full body
costume and arid setting (Mise en scene). Hologram of
Nicki is huge in comparison to setting which reinforces
the idea that she is significant to both the song and
music video.

As Nicki Minaj is the poster girl for the video and writes her own lyrics and performs her raps for the video, she prominently appears throughout the music video. Therefore she is used as the thumbnail for the video when searched for on YouTube. Because of this, close up shots are used to focus viewer attention on her, especially when her verses appear with relation to the song and video.

Wide shot to show vehicles in desert. This is a side by
side comparison of a shot from the "Hey Mama" music
video (top image) & "Mad Max: Fury Road"
(bottom image). 

In terms of mise en scene, Nicki's costume is a black mesh catsuit, pink bob wig, dark eye make up and black headband. Her appearance is in the form of a hologram because when the video was filmed, she was in the UK performing her European Tour titled "The Pinkprint Tour." Due to the nature of this video, the flash flickering of her hologram ties in with the fast beat of the song. Therefore giving it a techno-dance vibe which ties in with the genre being hip-hop/dance.

The connotations of a black catsuit is usually associated with sexually dominant qualities which link with lyrics like "None of them bitches ain't taking you, just tell 'em to make a U, that's how I be I come first like début." Wordplay is used for "you" & "U" which as this verse is a rap, it creates a flow/rhythm for the lyrics to follow. The 'I come first like début' line could be interpreted as both a double entendre and a sexual innuendo. As Nicki is renown for being the most successful female rapper and being the first to accomplish multiple accolades, this ties in with the idea that she 'came' into the rap industry and was the 'first' female rapper who's 'début' album went platinum called "Pink Friday" (At the time of the release of her debut album, Nicki was famous for wearing a pink wig bob hairstyle. As a result, in this video she is wearing a similar hairstyle which therefore shows a visual throwback to this era and links in with the choice of lyrics).

Wide shot showing a group of people dancing. Fast pace
cut transitions make the video seem very upbeat therefore
making it easy to dance to. Visual occurrence of dancers
reinforces this idea.

However, as a sexual interpretaion, it could be percieved that she sexually 'comes' before her partner. It could also be implied that her partner puts her needs first. Therefore, linking back to dominant and sexual connotations a black cat suit. (which is reinforced by the direct address of "you" & definitive requests of "don't", showing control)