Artists use music videos for various different reasons. Oftentimes, they will present videos for their music which shows scenes that might explain their lyrics at the same time. Many times these videos are made in order to make a point, to reach to the community, and maybe even attempt to change people’s outcomes of their lives today. It appears that Lil Wayne took time and wrote about this song because it may have related to something he has in his life. As many other artists, he attempts to use his experience to influence the lives of others.  In the music video, How to Love, Lil Wayne uses the location of a clinic to show that the environment one is raised in, often guides one choice and outcome of their life.

The location in the first scene of Lil Wayne’s music video shows a medical clinic.  In the scene, there is a woman with her doctor and a nurse who appears as though she is going to get an abortion. The doctor is getting his tools ready, which include things that seem very intrusive. Later in the scene, the woman appears very nervous, scared and conflicted on her decision. She ultimately leaves the room without getting the procedure and runs down the hall frantically. This signaling that she has changed her mind. This scene shows that either choice she makes with impact the outcome of her life. If she had let the abortion continue, she would have to live with killing another human being for the rest of her life. On the other hand, choosing to keep the child impacts the quality of both their lives. Especially if she was not ready or able to care for the baby. By keeping the baby, she ended up having to raise a daughter in a bad environment already so she has to raise her right early before she grows to old.

Lil Wayne choses a clinic because it is easily recognized as a place for life changing moments. Clinics are usually a resource for people from low-income background who do not have enough money to go to a regular doctor. When women go to a clinic, it is likely to create fear and possibly shame for having to be in such a place. Lil Wayne uses this location as a way to reach out to the poor black women that may have bad circumstance. Many of these women may not been shown how to truly be loved so it is obvious Lil Wayne wants to change their ways. Using this location was a way to show the viewer that this woman was of little resource and negative life circumstances.

In scene two, the video shows a young woman and her mother. It appears that this is the daughter that was not aborted because the first woman stands behind her. She is at the same clinic, with the same doctor, but the daughter took at test for a sexual transmitted infection.  Soon, the doctor received the test results and it came up positive for HIV. When the daughter heard the results, she quickly got up and started to run in the hallway because she realized that she has made a huge mistake that may cost her life. The mother ran down this same hallway when she changed her mind about her abortion; now the daughter is doing the same. 

Lil Wayne chose to use a mother and daughter because two different unrelated women would not have had the same effect. Using the two generations shows that the situation that the mother went through has now been created in the daughter. Lil Wayne used that same clinic location because it shows that they are still poor and they have not done anything to change it. The daughter repeated many of the choices the mother made because she was in a situation that showed her the wrong way to love herself. The hallway symbolizes the same path her mother took. She is running because she wants to escape the choices and the life that she has live. Lil Wayne uses this motif to explain that the choices and environment the mother made, directly affected those that the daughter made. Ultimately, creating a life of torment and terrible choices.

In the video, How to Love, Lil Wayne’s portrays a young girl that grew up in a bad environment. That experience basically taught her how to love and how to live. The examples set out for her were not positive and lead to some very bad things happening to her, which led her into making bad choices herself. When she grew up, she lived a life that was not a good one; sleeping around, partying and trying to find love in all the wrong places. She was not raised the right way as a normal child should have. Her understanding of love was in very negative ways, which had her love, others in the same way. It all started with her mother. Lil Wayne chose the location and repetition of experiences as a way to symbolize traveling down the wrong paths that your parents or community may teach you. This was shown through a mother and daughter experience in a clinic. Overall, this video is likely very impactful to women who have gone through or are experiencing this type of situation themselves. 
