Music Video 2 - Eminem

Intertextual references: Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. This could be to films, tv programmes or other music videos. Artists such as Eminem use intertextual references in music videos a lot, usually to mock them, for example his ‘just lose it’ video.

In the beginning of the video he dresses’ as Michael Jackson, in his famous skin tight black trousers, red shiny jacket, white socks, sun glass’s and white glove. He starts off by moon walking down an allay way.

Later in the video his ‘nose ‘falls off’, his hair sets on fire and he’s seen sitting on a bed with four children behind him, clearly mocking the accusations made against Michael in earlier years.




This also links to the lyrics in the song:

‘No worries, papa's got a brand new bag of toys
What else could I possibly do to make noise?
I done touched on everything, but little boys
That's not a stab at Michael
That's just a metaphor, I'm just psycho’

This shows that there is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals. In this video it’s illustrative because the video is supporting the lyrics by singing about the things that he’s accused of and showing them in his video.

Another intertextual reference in this video is when Eminem raps:

‘Now this is the part where the rap breaks down
It gets real intense, no one makes a sound
Everything looks like it's 8 Mile now
The beat comes back and everybody lose themselves’.

This is a reference to Eminem’s own film ‘8 mile’, in which he plays a young rapper who competes in ‘rap competitions’. So this is also a illustrative relationship between the lyrics and visuals.