The song Sugarcoat by Kiss of Life’s member Natty is a story about self-love and self-acceptance while rejecting the need for external validation or sugarcoating. The style of the video is unarguably narrative, as it follows the journey of a street busker struggling to make a living out of it, with mostly story-telling shots and diverse camera angles. Both the song and the music video are known to be inspired by the artist’s original journey, as she has been in the idol industry for nearly 10 years, and has been through so many ups and downs, failures, and misfortunes before succeeding as a member of Kiss of Life. The song is of the genre R&B, but was mixed and mastered so that it has characteristics of a Pop song to target the bigger audience group.
The first set-up reveals the main character, which is Natty herself, waking up from her sleep on the bench in some abandoned construction area, wandering around the city, which feels lost but somehow free at the same time. The medium shot with a shallow depth of field separates the character and her surroundings, projecting a more lonely and different image onto her. The costume consists of layered clothing items with a dark and monotone colour palette, representing the struggles that the character is facing—in this case, financial struggles and an identity crisis. At this point in the video, Natty is still questioning her own ability, struggling to find out the real her without pressures from society and external validations. Therefore, the use of costume and background play a vital role in translating her inner thoughts into something the audience could take out from the video.
In the next set-up, Natty is seen dancing/busking on the street with lots of people walking by, which could be understood to mean that now she isn’t afraid of what others think and how they see her anymore. The lyrics at this point in the song also connect deeply with the visual, as she sees herself as a butterfly and truly believes in her capability. The camera technique used here captures her from a distance with many people in the shot, but only focusing on her depicts that she is the star and we as the audience are watching her becoming the star. In addition, the editing here is more fast-paced compared to the previous setup, as it continuously skips between wide shots and medium close-up shots of Natty dancing (fun fact: the dance that she’s performing is the actual choreography of the song, so I think it creates a deeper connection between the song and the visual).
In the following setup, we can see Natty laying her eyes on a very captivating and attention-drawing outfit display behind a shop’s window. Using camera shots from inside and outside the shop helps the audience understand Natty’s interest (or almost desperation) and gives the message of hopes and dreams, as she might be dreaming of something bigger than just the outfit. The outfit also represents Natty’s determination to be liberated and free, as she tries
to break free from herself and the eyes of the public.
After a day of busking, the character is seen eating a cheap meal on the sideway. Again in this part, Natty proposes her desperation for liberation and being true to herself, as the lyrics clearly state that. An audition flyer catches her attention, and also the audience’s through the use of a close-up shot. The lighting in this setup is also very intentional, in which it highlights the contrast between the lively, bustling city and the quiet, self-absorbed Natty through the coloured lights reflecting on her face. 
This setup is considered vital to the narrative of the video, in which the moment the character decides to take the chance and dares to follow her dream gives a powerful and inspirational message to the audience, without having any spoken or written narratives. The close-up shot helps bring attention to this detail.
In this setup, Natty is seen walking into a convenience store looking for some products. From the moment she steps into the store, the owner has had his eyes on her. This detail can be explained by the Stereotype theory (Stuart Hall), perhaps because Natty was wearing a discreet and suspicious-looking outfit, the owner suspects her. As expected, when she accidentally drops something on the shelf, the owner immediately steps forward and starts rummaging her. Helpless because of the misunderstanding, Natty pushes the owner down and runs out of the store without looking back once. This detail shows that Natty has broken free from her old self, no longer worries about other people's prejudices, and has stopped preventing herself from pursuing her passion.
Here we can see Natty is running from the owner, but she is also running from so many other things. She is running from her old self, the societal pressures that once determined who she was and who they want her to become (a.k.a the ‘perfect’ idol). There are not many technical codes used in this setup as it is purely built up by the narrative and the emotions that the character portrays, which helps the audience relate more, especially those who feel trapped and want to break free from whatever is holding them back.
Representation:
The overall theme of the song and music video evolves around self-love and self-acceptance, which are represented quite well throughoutly. The video (and the song, too) is Natty’s message to the world that we do not need external validations and judgements to decide who we are and what we are capable of, but instead it is our own beliefs, thoughts and choices that make us ‘us’. The person that Natty represents in this video has been through a lot of challenges and difficulties before becoming an independent, confident and self-assured person that breaks her own limits and liberate herself from societal pressures and prejudices. It is a healthy representation that could encourage and inspire many young people to take matters into their own hands and become the person that they want to.
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