Narrative Case Study

Kwabs – Wrong Or Right

Institutional Information

The music video I have chose for the narrative case study is ‘Wrong or Right’ by Kwabs. The music video was released on January 21st 2014 on YouTube as part of the promotion for Kwabs’ Love & War EP. The video

is set in London, and shows the living conditions of those in less wealthy positions. The singer, Kwabs, migrated from Ghana at a young age to pursue a better life in the UK. The music video helps show the audience the reality of the situation they found themselves in when they travelled to the UK.

Concept of the Music VideoThe music video depicts a young Black man, who lives in a council estate tower block, fed up with life and the predicament he finds himself in. A sudden force drives the man to start dancing, catching the attention of other members of the public with them also joining in. Although simplistic, the video tells a meaningful story of how individuals often feel lonely and detached from society. The music video suggests a breaking down of barriers between lonely individuals and wider society.

Linear Narrative Structure The music videos composition conforms to the criteria of a linear narrative structure, by having the events that take place following a chronological order. The progression of the music video shows the individual’s transformation from being alone to being innovated to change. The narrative structure coincides with the progression of the main character.

Goodwin stated that the narrative helps amplify or conflict with the lyrics of the track, allowing the narrative to influence how the audience interpret the track. In the context of ‘Wrong or Right’, Goodwin’s theory can be clearly seen through the narrative’s amplification of the lyrics, by giving a complimenting and easy to follow visual structure. For example, the lyric ‘Back into the habit, see it in your eyes’ is complimented by the visual of a young man being influenced by the protagonist of the music video.

Linear Narrative Structure cont.

The linear narrative is the most common within many music

videos of contemporary tracks. This allows for the artist to tell

a simple story to accompany their music. An example of a

mainstream linear music video is The Weeknd’s ‘The Hills’

which shows a scene of a car crash and the main character

walking away from it in a linear structure. This allows for the

audience to follow the story closely and make sense of the

artist’s message or ideology.

Circular Narrative Structure

A circular narrative is conceptualized by the idea that the narrative starts and ends in the same

place, bringing it full circle. In context to ‘Wrong or Right’ the main character starts off laying on the

bed, with no motivation and ends with the force that gave him his motivation leaving him standing,

confused over the events of the music video. The innocence and bewilderment of the main

character is circular through the narrative, by having him desolated and disillusioned with reality at

both the beginning and end of the music video.

Barthes Code

Claude Levi Strauss argues that texts fall under two categories. The first is that texts are open, in which they are ambiguous and left to the audience to interpret the story of the music video. The second is the opposite, that texts are closed in which their no ambiguity in the story and it is clear cut. In relation to the music video for ‘Wrong or Right’ the music video is very much open to interpretation. The story of the music video is not very clear and can have many different interpretations such as the fight against aggression or racist stereotypes.