Music Video Breakdown: ‘Shout Out to My Ex’ by Little Mix

When a music video opens with a dramatic, zoomed-in shot of Perrie Edwards mouthing “shout out to my ex,” one assumes the obvious: This is a shout out to her ex. And given that Edwards’s former flame is none other than former One Direction member Zayn Malik and that the fifth line in the song says something to the effect of “you suck in bed,” one continues to extrapolate: This is a snarky number designed to throw serious shade at Malik.

Except there’s more to it than that. Sure, Edwards and her girl crew (Jesy Nelson, Jade Thirlwall, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock) repeatedly bash on Zayn’s underperformance as a boyfriend. After the “I hope she’s getting better sex / Hope she ain’t fakin’ it like I did” number, the Little Mix members continue to make snide jabs and declarations of independence. But these liberated lyrics and the emphatic thumping of the bass are mere distractions from what’s really important: the guide to Insta-fame.

Just think about it: The girls dance in front of their hipster trailer home with random Urban Outfitters-esque decor items placed throughout the background—a retro green lamp, a wooden cactus, a 1960s antenna TV. What at first glance seems a random scattering of objects is soon revealed to be a careful arrangement deliberately made to look effortless. Such is the secret to a successful Instagram flatlay, Edwards’s wink seems to say: exorbitantly-priced, kitschy household items and 30 minutes of rearranging for that perfect shot.

At the 30-second mark, Pinnock holds up a pistol; from her face hangs a Lady Liberty-esque frown and from the gun, a flag with the words “Over It.” This seemingly unnecessary diversion may perhaps be integral in expanding the horizons of what’s considered Instagrammable. Or could it be a poorly placed piece of social commentary, drawing the viewers’ grid-obsessed gaze away from their mobile screens and into the raw, real world of Sandy Hook and questionable interpretations of Second Amendment rights.

Nah. Less than a second later, the girls are back at it, throwing sarcastic words in Zayn Malik’s face while secretly pointing us in the direction of Instagram glory. They breeze by in a quaint antique Cadillac while purple trees dance in the background, reminding us that unconventional colors really stand out in an Instagram feed! Establish visual unity! One color only!

It’s true: The overall visual aesthetics of the four-minute-long video reinforce the didactic tone of this not-so-subtle tutorial on how to step up your Instagram game. The entirety of the video is filtered so that the girls’ skin looks effortlessly tanned. The backdrop, too, seems artfully faded: the blues of the sky, the dusky evening light…. Filters save Instagram feeds, y’all.

What, then, does the last shot do but reinforce this lesson? As the four girls wrap their arms around each other in pretend solidarity just as the sun falls down the mountain, the now-expert Instagrammer is reminded of two key takeaways: Firstly, the best candids involve fake laughs, and secondly, find good lighting.

By Courtesy of YouTube

—Staff writer Qianqian Yang can be reached at qianqian.yang@thecrimson.com.