Research and Planning- Analyse 2 music magazine covers Part 1

XXL magazine
Here is the first Rap magazine I am going to be analysing and is one of the most well known Rap music magazines in the industry.

The main characters of the magazine cover shown are 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) and Soulja Boy (DeAndre Cortez Way) and these are two very well known rappers that are not only huge in the rap industry but also in the music industry altogether and having them on the cover will attract many Rap fans into buying the magazine.

The genre of this magazine is clearly Rap because 50 Cent is dressed like a 'thug' and stereotypically Soulja Boy wears his pants low with lots of gold jewellery (bling) these general stereotypes about Rap are what segregates it from other music genres.

In the images they are represented in some ways as gang members/ thugs because 50 cent is covering his face up in a way that suggests he is a thug. However Soulja Boy is the common 'gangster' type, with a body full of tattoo's, low hanging jeans, lots of gold bling on show and a shaved hair style.

The audience the magazine is aimed at is normally stereotyped for instance: skin colour, age, gender and class. Skin colour is the point that this is aimed at the African American community because generally lots of African American people listen to Rap and the higher majority of rappers are Black, the age it is aimed at would be younger ages mainly 15-30 because rap influences younger generations nowadays. Also in terms of gender, Rap is more popular within the Male community (this is possibly because of all the profanity towards women shown in the lyrics used by most/ if not all popular rappers) and also class is another stereotype of audience because Rap is mostly listened to by Middle class/ Lower class people because it is accepted by them but rarely do you see any upper class individual listening to Rap.

Also in terms of the image, the shot type used on the magazine cover is a medium long shot, the shot type used really influences the 'thug' look that is a common look in the Rap industry and emphasises how powerful 50 Cent and Soulja Boy are because of the gold, expensive jewellery on show, the tattoo's and big muscles (50 Cent) and the scary way they stare into the camera. Also the background is white to clearly show Soulja Boy's tattoo's and so Fifty's thug look is visible to the viewer.

In terms of text used, in the logo it really emphasises the name of the magazine using in some ways a pun because the magazine is named 'XXL' and the text shown is extra large and stands out because it is in a large red box that clearly stands out on the front cover. Also at the side of the rappers are large cover lines saying '50 Cent and Soulja Boy' in clear, large, bold text and this emphasises the power and popularity of both rappers because it is the largest piece of text on the front cover and would appeal to most rap genre fans because of the prestigious rappers shown on the front cover. However there are also a small section of cover lines in the top right corner that shows feauturing famous rappers that are included in the magazine but the size of the text shows how the pair in the image on the front cover are much more popular and a higher influence on the 'Rap game' than those less famous rappers shown in small in the corner.