> Masthead ‘XXL’ – embedded with diamonds this reflects bling culture which is associated with RnB. Diamonds also connote wealth suggesting the magazine reports about the best of RnB music. The fact that it’s called ‘XXL’ also suggests that they’ve are a high quality magazine who only feature the best. The masthead has a red background in order to make it stand out and catch the audience’s attention.
> The Puff- ‘a decade of dominance’ suggests they dominated the RnB music magazine industry and they have been for a long period of time, therefore the reader expects to be reading high-quality quality articles about talented artists.
> The main image / focal point is of- Lil Wayne and Baby. They are both wearing numerous amount of expensive looking jewellery on, this signifies excessive wealth which RnB audience’s can immediately recognise and would want imitate. This is called a preferred reading as it persuades the audience to buy the magazine in order for them to emulate the two rap stars. The two rappers have their bodies covered with tattoos the editors have made this prominent by photographing them with their tops off. The tattoos add to the gangster image the magazine is trying to portray as the tattoos connote masculinity and strength because of the pain that is experienced when getting them done. It’s also said that a true gangster is one that is scared for life, by having their tattoos on show they are proving they’re real gangsters. Having their shirts off also makes them appeal to a female audience, it is also vey homoerotic – the pose (Baby having his hand over Lil Wayne) also adds to this. The editors have covered all points and taken everything into considerations in order for them to attract a mainstream audience. Lil Wayne is holding a red bandana whilst Baby has red and white boxers and a red hat this goes with the magazines colour scheme. The bandana also has connotations of gang culture as the red bandana is symbolic of the Blood gang which is a notorious gang known for being rough, this is related to the article as RnB and Rap artists portray themselves as gangsters because it leads to people finding them more interesting. The background of the photo is of a broken down house, which is a stereotypical kind of place for a ‘gangster’ to be living in, some people can also relate to the setting and aspire to be as successful as the artists. They’re trying to create a gangster image as it links in with the genre therefore it appeals to the targeted audience. They have however blurred out the background using selective focus, as they want the main attention to be on the two rappers.
> The main cover line ‘Baby & Lil Wayne’ is in a bold font with simple lettering which makes it standout and easy to read. As the rappers are widely recognised the names will draw in a large audience. The writing is in colours red and white, which go with the whole colour scheme the magazine use this is done to create brand identity.
> In the additional cover well know rap and RnB artists are named such as ‘Eminem’ and ‘Kanye’ this interests RnB and Rap audience as the artists are well known. The other additional cover line reads; ‘survival of the fittest’ indicating what the article is going to be about. The phrase also links in with the gangster image as gangs are constantly in battle with each other and the toughest one’s win, this additional cover line makes the two rappers seem tough and powerful as they have survived and been chosen to tell their story.
No comments:
Post a Comment