Music Video Analysis - No Scrubs by TLC

‘No Scrubs’ was released by girl group TLC in February 1999 for their album ‘Fan Mail’. The music video for ‘No Scrubs’ was shot by director Hype Williams.  The official music video was released via TLC’s VEVO channel in 2014 and currently has over 87 million views. The girl group consists of 3 members: Tionne Watkins (T-Boz), Lisa Lopes (Left Eye) and Rozonda Thomas (Chilli).

This is a performance based video which is evident because throughout the video, the girls are seen singing and dancing to the camera. Performance based videos were very common in the genre of R&B.  Lip syncing is used throughout by all members in the music video. The music video also relies heavily on the technique of chroma key to create the illusion that the girls are in space. For this reason, I think that the music video would have been quite expensive to produce along with the dramatic hair and makeup. 

Mise-En-Scene

Although there isn’t many, the props that are used along with the hair, makeup and costume are far from minimalistic. Throughout the video the girls are seen in various different outfits which vary from black, white , silver and a shiny blue/purple colour worn by Left Eye during her solo towards the end of the video. In the shots were the girls are dancing together, they are all wearing the same colour which reinforces their brand image and the fact that they are a group. When dancing together in the same shot, the girls are either wearing black or silver. 

T-Boz has vibrant pink hair with a futuristic hairstyle throughout the video which matches her makeup which is also very vibrant – she has pink eyebrows, wears pink eyeshadow, pink eyeliner and a dark purple lip which overall gives her a very futuristic look. In contrast, Chili appears very natural through her hair and makeup and her all white outfit. Similar to T-Boz, Left Eye also has a quite dramatic look which is expressed through her hair, costume and makeup. Left Eye has blue eyeshadow and also sports a very futuristic hairstyle. The fact that T-Boz and Left Eye have dramatic makeup and hair but Chilli appears very natural to the camera makes me think that the director has done this to draw attention to Chilli in particular as she is almost the ‘odd one out’. I think that because she is the lead singer and performer for this song, she is featured the most and the director has used props, costume, hair and makeup to make her stand out from the other girls. Although they all wear trousers and long sleeves for most of the video, all their stomach’s are exposed which links to Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory.  

Not many props are used in this music video, for the majority of it the girls are just dancing around however, a white swing is featured at the beginning of the video which only Chilli uses which further emphasises the idea that’ she has been made to look superior to the others. As for location, it looks as if chroma key has been used to make it look as if the girls are performing in space on metallic sets. During her solo, Left Eye wears a vibrant, blue shiny outfit which reinforces this metallic look. Also during her solo, although still looking quite futuristic through her outfit and makeup she has a more natural hair colour and style than how she has previously been seen. In the shot where the girls are dancing together after Left Eye’s solo, they are all wearing silver outfits – similar to the kind of thing you would wear in space.  

Camerawork

In terms of camera work, lots of low angle shots have been used for two main purposes: the first purpose is for the male gaze, this is similar to the way in which in most music videos the camera will start at the bottom and pan upwards on the female body suggesting that their body is what is important rather than anything else.  

The second reason that low angle shots have been used is to make the girls look powerful and strong which would link with the lyrics of the song as it is about men who have nothing going for them, but this doesn’t stop them from hitting on women. The term ‘Scrub’ is used to describe a man who is worthless. As the song is about these types of men, perhaps the low angle shots have been used to put us into the perspective of these men thus making us feel powerless whereas the girls look superior and independent. Similarly, a lot of high angle shots are used, I think the main reasons these high angle shots are used is to again put emphasis on the female body to satisfy the male gaze. It could also be a contrast with the low angle shots to show that although powerful and independent, they are still slightly vulnerable. There is also lots of close up which help to establish a relationship between the artists and the audience. These shots also are effective in showing their hair and makeup in greater detail, assisting them in achieving this futuristic look which ties in with the overall theme of the music video.

 There are also various camera pans at a low angle which have the same effect as the low angle shots, to make the girls look powerful and superior to the audience in one way or another. Head on shots are also used to show Chilli swinging on the swing where she is also moving her hips in quite a sexual manner.  

High-key lighting is used throughout the video to help achieve the look of them being in space and an upbeat mood which makes the audience feel empowered and good for the girls in the video. Their confident body language reinforces this idea that they are sick of worthless men and deserve better. Facial expressions see the girls nothing but happy and smiling throughout the video because they are positive about the message that they are promoting which is female independence. The video ends with a low angle shot when the music has faded out but the girls are standing with their backs’ to the camera. 

Sound

The song is sung by all three girls but Chilli sings the lead vocals and Left Eye has a solo towards the end. Surprisingly, ‘No Scrubs’ was actually the first TLC song which Chilli has sung lead vocals on. The song overall has a very upbeat rhythm which links strongly with the lyrics. The lyrics describe a ‘scrub’ who is a worthless man and how they don’t want one. The lyrics can be inspirational to women dealing with relationship issues with men however, the video may been seen as quite offensive to men as it does a good job of labeling men who don’t have a high salary or a job as worthless. There are no non-diagetic sounds in this music video. At the end of the video, the music fades out slowly while the girls are play fighting and dancing around.  

Editing

Some sort of animation or special effects is used at the beginning to introduce the TLC logo and the title of the song before it increases in size towards the screen. At the beginning cuts are used to establish the location when the lights light up. Cuts are used for the first half of the music video to move between shots however, fade to black is used when the tempo slow down at around 2.03. Then around 2.17 there are short cuts when the temp speeds up again. Towards the end of the video, when Left Eye has finished her solo, the footage of the girls dancing and play fighting is sped up.  

▶    Discuss the representation of people especially focusing on gender identity including voyeurism

There is only women in this music video as TLC is a girl group and they are represented both positively and negatively. The women are represented negatively through the camera angles and the mise-en-scene. In all outfits they wear throughout the video, their stomachs are exposed which is an example of the male gaze. Low angle shots in particular represent the women in a negative way by putting emphasis on their legs and panning up which gives the impression that their body is what is most important. I would say that through their revealing outfits and the voyeuristic angles used to film them, contribute to this negative representation. On the other hand, I think that it could be argued that the women are also represented positively in the fact that they are singing about female independence which could be very inspirational to other women watching. 

▶    What can you say about the record label behind the production this? Has this influenced the final product? If so, how?

The record labels behind this music video were Artista Records and LaFace Records. Looking at the artists that LaFace has signed, I think that it is likely that the record label has influenced the final product. 

This is I have noticed that  most of the artists signed to this record label are R&B artists like Usher, Alicia Keys, Sean Paul etc. On the other hand, Artista Records have signed various artists from various different genres so it is unlikely that they influenced the production of this music video. 

▶    What audience has been targeted and how can you tell? What makes it suitable for them? What type of audiences wouldn’t it be suitable for and why? Are there any secondary audiences?

I think that the audience that has been target is both young men and women but the majority is young women. The reason I believe it is young women is because they are of a similar age group to the artists, they will be able to relate to the message behind the lyrics that being about the independence of women. I also think that part of the audience may be young men due to the use of voyeuristic camera angles – these are often used to attract and entertain a male audience. I think the fact that it is a performance video with the artists lip syncing and dancing makes it appealing to a younger audience rather than older. I don’t think it would be suitable for an older audience as I think they would find it boring and not understand the message behind the lyrics. I think if there were any secondary audiences it would be middle-aged women – the reason for this is because due to their age they can probably still relate to the meaning of the song and might see an appeal in the fun performance aspect of the video. 

Watch the full music video here: