Andrew Goodwin's 6 Features of Music Videos: Iggy Azalea - "Work"

Genre Characteristics:
Hip Hop:

• A clear dance routine demonstrated during the first chorus
• Use of revealing clothing 
• Focus on lead singer (Iggy Azalea)
• Setting such as a strip club emphasising themes

Relationship between lyrics and visuals:

• The opening shot of Iggy Azalea walking alone on the road in the dessert links to the journey from Australia to America (Miami) biographic story recounted in the first verse.
• The strip club and demonstration of the lap dance shows the type of work described
• The setting of the caravan park links back to what she used to live in while in Australia highlighting why she wanted to leave
• In the opening shot while walking down the road, Iggy Azalea is wearing designer shoes which are described in the opening lines of the song
• The location of the truck stop which is returned to several times, further relegates to the nature of what the narrator was trying to leave
• The final shot of Iggy Azalea walking down an iconic street in L.A presents the goal that she wishes to achieve by working the way she has done which is described in the lyrics.

Relationship between music and visuals:

• The slow build up has a correlation to the slow opening of the long road
• The dance movements relate to the music as each beat is shown as a movement - particularly twerking
• Each cut occurs at a beat 'drop' or a break
• Silence allows for the inclusion of diegetic sound to influence the narration of the music video - car start up noise
• Piano music begins in the strip club when Iggy Azalea accesses the jukebox 
• Cuts to the next shot in the strip club scene are emphasised by the music as they are in both correlation with the music and also the movements
• The faster the music becomes the quicker the cuts become

The demands of the record label (close ups of the artists) and artist recurring motifs:

• The twerking has become with Iggy Azalea music videos as the often recur 
•  Lots of close ups and emphasis on the artist's rear - thus attempting to represent the sex appeal of the label
• Focus on the artist as the protagonist of the story being told which is biographical of the artist themselves

Reference to the notion of looking:

• The nature of the strip club and a lap dance is the provocative form of the looking notion and it is emphasised by the music and movement
• Iggy Azalea herself is predominantly looking directly at the camera addressing the audience as a way of story telling and breaking the fourth wall of standard film convention.
• The focus on the artist and backing dancer's rear demonstrates a provocative nature that relates back to the strip club scene and introduces sex appeal into the music video

Inter-textual references:

The L.A walk an iconic location used in many forms of media and thus, the starred pavement has become a symbol of success. This is the conclusion of the video and demonstrates the artist's subsequent achievements in America. This walk is based on the connotations developed by other media which the walk has appeared in such as:

• Iron Man 3
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Beverly Hills Cop series
• Beverly Hills Chihuahua
• Tom and Jerry
• Scooby Doo
• (Numerous Hollywood award ceremonies such as the Oscars)