Textual Analysis - Skepta: Cross My Heart

Skepta – Cross My Heart The music video for Skepta’s latest song is very hypocritical. With the title ‘Cross my heart’ it is used during the song in two ways. One way is from Preeya Kalidas towards Skepta expressing that she would never hurt/leave him however they are not even together! Despite this, Skepta is still surrounded by many women with little clothing on. The other way is Skepta claims to never go mainstream and forget those who got him where he is today. This is ironic as he has sold out for the biggest stereotype of a black rapper for this video. There are very strong representations of wealth and status e.g. the giant white house, white Lamborghini, gold furniture and interior and the flash outfits worn by him. As mentioned above woman have been used negatively in this video. They have only been used to surround Skepta in his mansion to reinforce his status/power. Even the featuring woman singer ‘Preeya Kalidas’ is seen sprawled across the bed every time she says “I promise”, making direct eye contact with the camera giving a feeling of connection for the viewer.

The setting for the video is very limited to the inside and outside of the mansion. However the editing keeps the video interesting as it has been synced to the fast beat. The beginning style has the feeling of the beginning of a film with the gold names floating in front of Skepta and Preeya. The font style and gold lettering is brash and tacky; it is almost an ironic representation of the key codes and conventions of hip hop videos. The colour palette is dominated by gold. The video offers lots of medium close ups when Skepta is rapping. This is so we can see his expressions and really feel the words he is speaking. The repeated use of close-ups of the lead singer was highlighted by Andrew Goodwin who states that close-ups are used to promote the artist and reinforce the artist’s status within the video.


The woman featured in Skepta’s music video have a very passive role. This is proven by their position and posture. The woman in his video have been objectified and are obviously only there to be looked at by, typically, the male audience. They have not only been objectified by the men watching the video but also the men in the music video. During the whole video, only the guest female singer moves. The other female models act like statues surround the lead singer, not even being aloud to dance as if he owns them all. This is supported by Andrew Goodwin’s forms and conventions. In almost hip-hop video woman will be used in this way in order to lure the male viewer in and make him aspire to be the lead singer with all these woman.