‘Teach me how to Dougie’ is the debut single from American hip hop group; Cali Swag District, the song was written by Corey Fowler, Chanti Glee and Cahron Child. It was directed by Yolande Geralds and was filmed in the group's hometown of Inglewood, California. The stereo typical view we have on music videos by hip hop artists is that they feature girls dancing in little clothing with men surrounding them. Also the video usually highlights the ‘finer things in life’ such as money, expensive cars, jewellery and big houses. Although this is not the case for the video ‘Teach me how to dougie’ instead the video has a vast amount of different age groups, ethnicities, sizes, body shapes, heights and colours. The song itself is a ‘feel good’ song where as soon as it is heard it is meant to be exciting and uplifting. The choice of using different people with different body shapes, ethnicities and some with disabilities has much kudos. The song is therefore open to everyone and anyone and does not single people out, as like many other hip-hop videos do. It also shows the multi-cultural society in which we live in today and the video picks up on this. For example at the end of the song we can see a Bhangra dance being performed, this is a form of dance that has originated in the Punjab region. Featuring the dance also opens restrictions of the song that some people may have, for example as the song is made by black African-Americans, certain ethnicities may believe that this sort of music is not suitable for them or their children to listen to but by having the vast amount of different people in the video it shows how open the song is and illustrates that it can be for anyone and anyone and not those who just enjoy typical hip-hop music. By looking at Cali Swag District other music videos and songs we have a clear understanding that they are not a typical hip-hop group and they want to be noticed for there individualism as well as for their different style of writing and creating music.
In the 11th second into the video we automatically see a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. There is a build up into the song where we see children and then adults doing the ‘Dougie’ dance but as the 11th second reaches, the camera cuts to one of the members of the group named Smoove. We automatically understand he is a part of the group as he is filmed in another location from where the dancing is taking place, this therefore emphasizes his role and distinctively points out that he is a member of the group. He then sings “They be like Smoove (what?) Can u teach me how to dougie?” as he sings the line the camera cuts back and forth to those of different ethnicities and sizes dancing to the song. As the song continues we see more and more people dancing the ‘Dougie’ when there is another visual. Smoove then sings “And for you, you, you to back it up and dump it!” as he sings “you, you, you” the camera cuts to the whole group pointing then back to Smoove pointing directly to the camera and then to him pointing at a girl who is featured next to him throughout the whole video. Smoove’s next lyric is “Put your arms out front, lean side to side” as soon as the lyric starts the camera again cuts to a group of girls doing exactly what it says in the lyrics; they are putting out there arms and leaning side to side in a dance move. As Smoove finishes his verse the chorus begins and the whole group sing “Teach me how to dougie Teach me, teach me how to dougie” we get a good view of different people doing the ‘Dougie’ dance. This allows people to understand what the ‘Dougie’ dance is as the chorus is repeated 3 times and also the same dance move is being performed. We are then introduced to the second member of the group called ‘Yung’ we clearly understand who he is as we get a full shot of him away from the people dancing and he sings “My name is yung!” as he introduces himself in the same way Smoove has we begin to realise the repetition of the video and how the next member of the group will be introduced. They all stand alone and away from the crowd as this allows the audience to understand that they are the artists. As Yung sings his verse we get an individual visual from him as he sings “So I'm on my shoulders and I take it real low Dey like "how you da dat? he can dougie on the floor!" The camera cuts to Yung ‘Douging’ on the floor which is illustrated by the lyrics. As the song comes to an end verse 3 begins although the 3rd member of the group does not introduce himself in the same way Yung and Smoove have. The third member named Jayare begins his verse without telling us who he is although we understand he is a member of the group as his verse is filmed in the exact same way as Yung and Smoove’s. Jayare stands away from the crowd and has single shots of him singing the verse. Regardless of the introduction as to who he is, because of the repetition throughout the video the audience are expected to know that he is the 3rd member of the group.
The song ‘Teach Me How to Dougie’ is a very up-beat song and has a fast tempo to it. It features a metronomic and "cowbell-bolstered" beat. Pete Fraser says that the music video tends to make use of the tempo of the track to drive the editing. This is illustrated vigorously between the relationship of the music and the visuals. The video constantly cuts to the beat and has constant change. The visuals illustrate the lyrics as well as the dancing defines the up-beat tempo of the song. As the beat drops almost every time the camera changes to something new. The video also changes paces with the music as at the end when the beat is more consistent and heavy than the beginning of the song we see the pace of the dancing increase and this is also when the Bhangra dancing is introduced. As this is Cali Swags District first official music video and song the record company had to incorporate a way into the music video in order for the viewers to understand who was a part of the group and who the main people are in the video. As there are 3 verses in the song 3 out of the 4 members are shown in the music video, As each verse begins the member introduces themselves this is incorporated in the lyrics and we get a close up single shot of them away from the big dancing crowd. For the last verse which Jayare sings we are not told who he is or introduced to him, he is shot the same way as the other 2 members and therefore we as an audience have to think and understand for ourselves that he is also a member. I believe the director has chosen to do this as it would become tedious and boring to have the same introduction for all members of the group. By having Jayare not introduce himself this allows the viewers to wonder who this 3rd member might be and go on to research about the group to have more background knowledge. Without having to research them myself, I would have not known there is a 4th member of the group who is featured in the video although does not have an active part as the other members. Cali Swag District is a hip-hop group which was created in America, the image the band offer is far different from what other American hip-hop artists offer. The video in itself speaks out to the audience that they are not a typical hip-hop group who will go with the norm of a typical hip-hop video. The image they create for themselves is unique and this is also seen in their work. By being different they can attract more of an audience and people now days want to hear something different and also see something different. As this is the groups first video, it has a great impact as to what is to be expected of them as we already know they are not typical, what is to be expected cannot be predicted and this is what will attract more of an audience and fan base for them.
In reference to notion of looking the one of the members, Yung is topless in the video although he does not have a ‘perfect’ body image of being muscular and well built he is of a slim sort and has many tattoos. This also in itself emphasises the fact that the boys do not really care of their appearance and will not live up to what is expected of them. Other hip-hop artists such as 50 CENT and Lloyd Banks are all well built men in which it is evident they live up to what is expected of them as hip-hop artists and men. Yung is featured topless in the video in order to ‘spice’ up the video as such but in a very mild way, also it enables him to show his personality as he has many tattoos on his body. As we have not seen him before this allows us to create an image of what we expect him to be like in future record and videos. The group itself consists of young men aged from 20-22, this attracts a younger audience and as it is the groups first video there is no camerawork, dance or costume apart from Yung being topless which imply a sexualised display. The music video for this song has to be performance-based as the song is based on a dance. The song brought the ‘Dougie’ dance to the a huge success as did similarly by the New Boyz’ with their hit “You’re a Jerk” in 2010. Critics have said that the dance is a ‘branch-off’ movement of jerkin’. Although member Smoove disagrees with the statement and stated that the group itself and the dance have a more ‘street aspect’ and while the New Boyz’ feature in the music video they say they do not consider themselves associated with the jerkin dance.
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