Style:
“The Show Goes On” is a socially conscious hip-hop song by Lupe Fiasco. It focuses on being motivating. The song was made before Lupe Fiasco had problems with his record label as they thought his album wouldn’t sell as it was socially conscious and not mainstream enough. They forced him to release this song as a single but didn’t expect it to gain as much attention as it did. The history behind the song is quite ironic, but I also chose it because almost all of the video involved the artist walking towards the stage. Throughout the whole video he performs this song, this is why I checked the performance box. The song is also socially conscious as it refers to poverty in first world countries which is why I checked the socially conscious box.
Purpose:
The purpose of the song for the artist is to motivate people as well as entertaining his fans. The song also promotes his album. The song also portrays a message to his fans and criticizes his record label through his lyrics.
Lyrics:
This song has simple lyrics throughout but Lupe Fiasco is known for wordplay so they could be a lot more complex than they seem. The first verse involves the artist going into detail on how he is going to make the music he wants to. For the hook, the artist refers to his career as a show and like the title, it’ll go on. The second verse has the artist giving shout outs to all the people that defy stereotypes for example or people that have died. He then goes on to say what he would do for his fans, including starting a world war. The last verse is shorter than the ones before but Lupe Fiasco is basically motivating the listener even more.
Meaning:
The song is initially a motivating song but it is also like a smack in the face for the artists’ record label, who wouldn’t let him release an album
Generic Conventions:
There are very few generic conventions in the music video. One of which is that the rapper is wearing expensive clothes which is a convention usually shown in rap music videos, however other than that there aren’t many generic conventions.
Camera Shots/Movements:
Extreme close-up, mid-shot, long-shot, close-up. The majority of the camera shots are tracking shots. The close-up shots allow the audience to focus on the artist as he is performing the song all the way through the video. The long-shots are usually when Lupe Fiasco walks off and the location changes which allows for a change of shot.
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| Throughout the majority of the video, Lupe Fiasco is shown walking towards the camera |
Lighting:
The whole video is shot inside so all of the lighting is artificial. It contains a mixture of low-key and high-key lighting, this it because the song touches on touchy subjects without being a depressing video.
Editing:
This video contains various shots of the rapper while he’s walking towards the stage. The editing seems to be simple straight cuts with the cuts allowing a change of actor, background or verse. All of the shots seem to flow together to make the video look like it was all filmed in one shot.
Effects:
It seems some Chroma key was used for this video, there is one shot where Lupe Fiasco walks into a lift and it looks like the outline of America is in the background and foreground. After that shot the actor keeps walking towards the camera and the walls and ceiling move into place.
Miming/Lip-Sync:
Lupe Fiasco lip-syncs throughout the video which may be because he is talking to his audience before performing in front of his fans. He does not mime as this isn’t a typical convention of hip-hop songs.
