Parody and Pastiche

The aim of my music video is to parody Wiz Khalifa's song, We Dem Boyz, and therefore I must know what a parody (and its opposite, a pastiche) actually is. This isn't just important for the blog, it's also important as terminology for the exam. Another important term I must be aware of in this case is "Intertextuality" because it is considered a type of pastiche.

Parody: An imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.

Examples: Movie and music parodies are very prevalent in current times as they bring a sense of nostalgia (mainly with movies) and humour to past artists' works. The most known movie parodies have been (and still are): Scary Movie (series), Johnny English (series, UK's best in current generation), and Spaceballs (parody of Star Wars, greatest film at time of release). The most known parody music artists at the moment are: "Weird Al" Yankovic, The Midnight Beast (UK), and Rucka Rucka Ali.  

Pastiche: An artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period.

Examples: George Lucas' influence for the Star Wars series was the film Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn (1983). Ever since creation, Star Wars has been an influence on most post-modern movies. Queen's influence for Bohemian Rhapsody was Happiness is a Warm Gun by The Beatles.

Intertextuality: The interrelationship between texts, especially works of literature; the way that similar or related texts influence, reflect, or differ from each other. 

Experimental Album Cover - Bruno Mars

Star Image Analysis - Matisyahu

Matisyahu came to fame in 2004 with his debut album, Shake Off the Dust... Arise, as a Hasidic, Reggae performing Jew. From 2001-2007, he was associated with the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York, and this was the main reason for his appearance.

Like Yankovic, fans will remember him most for his Hasidic image and the idea that he performs in the Reggae genre is unique (just like the start of parody with Al) so he also made success through his hit songs, such as:

• King Without a Crown
• Youth
• Jerusalem
• One Day
• Sunshine
• Searchin'
• Surrender
• Happy Hanukkah

His image made him a notorious artist, especially because he didn't dress in a Hasidic style, rather he observed the look but dressed casually which upset the Hasidic community. He also refused to perform live on the Sabbath because he was observing it. 

In 2011, he posted this picture on social media, announcing that he would no longer be adopting the image of the "Hasidic Reggae Superstar", as he would rather just be the same artist, but as himself, realising that he had let go of the faith that he once believed in. At the time of this reveal, fans were shocked because it was something they never expected, and some still debate today as to whether it was a publicity stunt for extra popularity. 

According to Dyer, Matisyahu's image would be perceived as Organic, he developed it himself and he is not fully involved in the industry. In addition, he reinvented his image to reach his audience in a more organic way, because he seemed to feel that this part of his image developed into something quite synthetic. 

Star Image Analysis - "Weird Al" Yankovic

In the 1979, "Weird Al" Yankovic gained fame through southern California comedy and radio personality Dr Demento on his radio show. 

He has been making parody songs and videos since then, and is still making them currently. His star image is mostly based on his parodies, however his actual image does have a huge impact on his star image.

Yankovic was prolific with his "classic" look (1979-1998). Throughout the "classic" period, he released some of his greatest hits:

• Another One Rides the Bus - Another One Bites the Dust (Queen)
• Eat It - Beat It (Michael Jackson)
• Like a Surgeon - Like a Virgin (Madonna)
• Fat - Bad (Michael Jackson)
• Smells Like Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana)
• Amish Paradise - Gangsta's Paradise (Coolio)

In 1998, Al got LASIK eye surgery, and because of this his image changed completely. He also decided to grow his hair out to an extreme length, and has looked like this ever since. However, it's more likely that people will associate his image with his "classic" look because he was more in his prime from the late 70s to 90s. 

Despite the image change, his star image was still empowered by the hit songs he made, such as:

• The Saga Begins - American Pie (Don McLean)
• Pretty Fly for a Rabbi - Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) (The Offspring)
• Couch Potato - Lose Yourself (Eminem)
• eBay - I Want It That Way (Backstreet Boys)
• White & Nerdy - Ridin' (Chamillionaire)
• Canadian Idiot - American Idiot (Green Day)
• Perform This Way - Born This Way (Lady Gaga)

According to Dyer, Al would have constructed his star image based on his entire music career, as he is recognised for his image, songs and personality. The best part about him is that his entire image is based on his career, and not one sole achievement in his career.

Star Image Analysis - Wiz Khalifa

Known as a large contribution to the Hip-Hop genre, Wiz Khalifa has multiple aspects to his Star Image, and what he is most known for. 

Besides the fact that he is featured in the news a lot, he is known by the younger generation instantly, either by look, particular song, or the amount of cannabis he smokes each day.

This is what Wiz looked like in 2010 once he had released Black and Yellow. He was mostly recognised for his extremely catchy song, and the fact that his hair represented the flag of his resident city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was his emergence into stardom so there wasn't an exact determined image that his fans would know him for until later on in his career.

At this point, he gained an increased level of fame by the collaborations he made. A collaboration with British rapper Tinie-Tempah on the song Till I'm Gone helped him gain popularity in the UK, and a collaboration with 50 Cent on the song Telescope helped him increase his popularity in the US.

Wiz maintained this look and image from 2010-2013.

This is what Wiz currently looks like, demonstrating this look after the release of O.N.I.F.C., before and during the release of Blacc Hollywood. At this point in his career, Wiz is known for a lot more after having much time in the public eye.

The word that most people would associate with him and his image is cannabis. He is known for openly smoking it and supporting its legalisation in the few states of America, and the rest of the world in the future. One would also associate him with fellow weed smoking rapper Snoop Dogg, as they share a quite similar image - suggesting that Wiz is a younger spawn of Snoop. 


In early 2014, Wiz Khalifa stopped paying approximately $10,000 a month on cannabis as he became a sponsor of "The Cookie Factory", a medical marijuana dispenser. He has also created his own strain of cannabis, known as Khalifa Kush, which he made a song about in Blacc Hollywood, called KK.

The constant change of hair colour is also a factor of his image that he is recognised for, having gone through multiple, such as brown, "Pittsburgh" and this purple colour. 

He is also known for dating supermodel Amber Rose from 2011-2015, and they had 1 child together. 



According to Richard Dyer, Wiz would be adding to his constructed image with all the changes he is making to it, and all the additional popularity and recognition he's receiving via social media. He has also used his own strain of cannabis, his own rolling papers, and other merchandise as a unique selling point. 

Website Analysis - "Weird Al" Yankovic

Because I am parodying We Dem Boyz and my future artist is part of the parody genre, I needed to research the website of one of his cited influences: "Weird Al" Yankovic. I researched his website to see how I could apply features of his website to the one I will create.

Al's website features a mainly white background with white text, and this theme runs through all the pages. On the home page, there is a large landscape picture of Al in black and white. This demonstrates how Al is a synthetic artist because he is selling himself primarily based on his image.

You can scroll down to find news on his home page and when you scroll down further, you find links to his Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all on a social bar. The other colour theme that goes with the website is red, which sits at the bottom.

He has also included important promotion for his world tour, which is currently the biggest part of his career this year so he is placing advertisement for it on every page on the website in order to target and persuade his audience to buy tickets. 

This version of Al's page is the updated version from 2015 (this post has been updated since its publish date). Before 2015, Al's website used to look like this:

We can suggest that his previous website format was more exemplary of the parody genre and his humour, whereas his updated website format has come across more formal and serious, even though he is already a respected artist. He has also had this website for over 10 years so the format update may have been needed from his perspective.

The menu bar is usually conventional of artists' websites. Al's website features:

HOME|NEWS|VIDEOS|TOUR|CATALOG|STORE|ARCHIVES

The pages CATALOG and ARCHIVES will not be necessary on the website I plan to make because the catalog page is a mix of all the things that should just be included in the menu bar, but I only have a certain amount that I can include for a new artist. The archives page contains his history and lots of other links that a new artist like mine should not have on their start-up website, therefore I will not be using it either. 

Website Analysis - Wiz Khalifa

Wiz Khalifa's song We Dem Boyz is what my song and video We're Jewish Boyz is going to parody, therefore I decided to do some research on his website and use it as an inspiration to see how I could apply features of his website to the one I will create.

Wiz's website features a mainly black background with white text, and this theme runs through all the pages. On the home page, the main focus is on Wiz's latest music video (in this picture the video is loading) which therefore translates as a focus on Wiz's latest activity all the time. 

You then scroll down to find three sections on his website, and this picture is the first section which has news, merchandise, songs, pictures and tour dates all regarding his latest album Blacc Hollywood. The other two sections feature his two previous studio albums. 

Other than promoting his albums, Wiz is trying to attract his target audience by grouping all these products under one album and putting the most interesting and latest features of these products on the homepage so that the audience are updated. 

We can assume that Wiz is a synthetic artist because he is being sold on more than just his name, he is also selling his lifestyle and culture which a lot of his fans follow and imitate.

The menu bar usually is conventional of artists' websites. Wiz's website features: 

WIZ KHALIFA (HOME)|NEWS|MUSIC|TOUR|PHOTO|VIDEO|LIFESTYLE|STORE

Wiz's page LIFESTYLE is essentially similar to other pages on his site, so I will therefore not include such pages on my website.

CD Album Analysis - Matisyahu - Shake Off the Dust... Arise