Magazine Analysis

Matya Askew

•Red and Black colours. Masculine, strong, quite aggressive colours. Make the image stand out as Eminem’s skin tone is different to all the other colours and therefore very noticeable.•Short sentences, easy to red and grab your attention. Relate to the target audience as the reader are not necessarily the most intelligent. •Bold, structured fonts. Again masculine and relates to target audience of young men (stereotypical audience of people who would listen to rap/hip hop music.)•Image of Eminem in strong, dominant pose. Showing his muscular arms and tattoos makes him seem masculine, also that he has a high pain threshold and looks threatening. Also he looks interesting, encouraging the reader to read•His necklace and watch make him appear wealthy which links to him being talented as he has managed to make a lot of money.•His almost aggressive looking stare and facial expression are enticing and encourage you to look at the magazine and therefore makes you want to read. Directly address’ the audience.•Pug of ‘The Real Rap.’ Catches the readers eye when looking for a magazine.•Kicker of other rappers encourage more readers who are interested in these as well•All writing is behind Eminem, none written on his, shows his dominant personality and makes him stand out•Quotation ‘I literally almost died.’ Interesting story to encourage readers

•Magazine name ‘XXL’ only writing in red, draws attention to it, clear. Red also symbolizes danger, passion and fire.•Masculine fonts, capital letters which are bold, clear and easy to read. This gives the cover and ease of reader which means they would not be put off by lots or words and complex sentences. •Image is intriguing, everyone is staring into the camera, appears to be giving you eye contact, enticing you to look at it which makes them more likely to buy it.•Buzz Word ‘PLUS’ draws in the audience as they want to find out more.• Kicker of other artists names at the bottom, opens up to a bigger audience so it is not just restricted to the audience of the artists in the image.•Brands on their trainers could draw in audience of people who like these brands, they also look new and expensive which makes the rappers look wealthy and therefore exaggerating that they are talented.•‘Eminem’ written with a bright yellow background makes it stand out, this is because Eminem has the biggest fan base so this will encourage his fans to read.•Colours used at the bottom match the colours used on the barcode, gives the cover consistency. •Eminem wearing different colour to others makes him stand out which would attract his fans and make them buy the magazine.•Long shot makes the rappers seem dominant and good looking, people want to be like them (hegemonic representation of masculinity.)•Relates to the audience- it is very masculine and attracts people who enjoy this music.

•Hegemonic representation of masculinity, he is smoking a cigar, burning money and looks like he has a lot of money with the ring , watch and other jewelry, this attracts the target audience of young men who aspire to be like this one day.•All the colours relate to each other, for example his green clothing, green dollars and the green mast head. Also, written on the cover it says ‘The green issue’ which relates to one of the cover stories about marijuana. •This attracts the target audience of a lower class as they would like to be wealthy like this.•This makes his silver jewelry stand out which exaggerates his wealth.•The image is over the mast head which makes it the main focus. This is because the magazine brand is very well known so does not need to be very clear as people know what it is without seeing the whole name.•This cover has no kickers of other artists names. Only Busta Rhymes, this does not leave it open to a wide audience. This is unsuccessful as Busta Rhymes alone would not attract as big an audience as it would if there were other artists’ names features.•The fonts are bold and masculine. The mast head is metallic looking which relates again to masculinity for example masculinity is related to things such as machinery and technology.•Published by Summit Publication

•The man in the image dominates the page and the rest of the page is quite minimal. This draws attention to the image•The mans eyes look like he is on drugs. This adds to the stereotype that all rappers take drugs.•The letter ‘V’ is translucent in the background because its called ‘Vibe.’ This reminds the reader of the name and shows consistency throughout the magazine.•The man is holding expensive looking chains and showing his gold grill which shows his wealth and power. This is an example of hegemonic representation of masculinity because the audience would aspire to be wealthy like him.•His tattoos show he has a high pain threshold and one of the tattoos says the word ‘Respect’ which shows he should be respected. These make him look quite threatening and powerful.•The ‘features’ are in small writing down the side of the page which adds to the minimalistic look. Also, they’re in a different font to the other words which shows inconsistency and diversity on the page. •It is minimalistic because it has little writing for example no letter from the editor welcoming the reader, it just says what is needed and the rest of the focus is on the image.•The byline and date are in small writing in the corners of the page, adding to the minimalistic look.•The red colours represent danger, fire and blood. They are masculine colours so relate to the target audience of men and the use of these colours together with the image make the man seem even more threatening, strong and powerful.

•The words “doin’ lines” relate to the urban theme of the magazine. This is regional dialect and directly grabs the audience as they can relate to it.•The colours on his clothes fit in with the colours used on the page (the red brackets and red jacket.) Red also suggests danger and makes the man seem more powerful.•He is staring directly into the camera which grabs the readers attention as if he was looking at them. This focuses their attention on to the image rather than the text as the main focus is the image.•Again, the main focus is the main image which is similar with all hip hop magazines which is a similarity I have noticed. This could be because the target audience of the magazine would not be very interested in reading and more at looking at pictures so they all choose to make the image the main focus. The text is also in a very small font which diverts the attention away from it.•He is showing off his expensive looking silver jewelry which shows his wealth, he is also wearing fashionable clothes and is very clean shaved and his clothes look fresh and new. This is hegemonic representation of masculinity as the audience would aspire to be this wealthy and look this good.•Also this is the female gaze because women would want to read it if they find him attractive, and he is dressed up carefully in order to try and achieve this.•The logo of the magazine is in the bottom corner which adds consistency to the page and stands out well because it is bright red and is very obvious.•Published by Harris Publications

•Close up of man looking threatening, relates to target audience of young men as they are generally more interested in aggression and fear, unlike women who would not generally be as interested.•The translucent red adds to his scary appearance, relates to danger, blood and make him look even more threating. It also looks like he has two sides to his face which makes him look like he has two sides to his personality which adds mystery and fantasy to the page. Almost like a horror movie.•Logo in bottom corner adds to consistency of magazine and the words ‘Master Plan’ make the man in the image seem even more powerful.•Image is the main focus of the page, similar to most hip hop magazines, more important than the text, the image is even behind the text and merges them together.•He is staring directly towards the reader which is effective in drawing in the reader and catching their eye.•The white text stands out well on the red, brown and black background.•Colour of font fits with colour of logo adding to the consistency.•The text font is very masculine. It stands out well and is broad and bold.•Image fades into a black background adds mystery to the page and gives it a scary, threatening feel.•The image is hegemonic representation of masculinity. •Published by Summit Publication.

Colours represent the artists’ song ‘Black and Yellow’ which fit in with the music theme and relate to the artist they are interviewing (Wiz Khalifa) which clarifies (along with the ‘WK’) who they are interviewing.

Image fits in with the stereotype of hip hop and rap by using an image of him smoking. Also fits in with sub-heading ‘How High?’ because the smoke is quite heavy it is probably drugs. Makes him look stereotypically ‘cool’ so the audience (young men) want to be like him.

His tattoos as showing on his neck which implies he has a high pain threshold therefore is brave and should be respected. This makes him look more masculine and powerful.

Hegemonic representation of masculinity. Target audience want to be like him because of his designer clothes, because he looks ‘cool’ smoking, also because he looks carefree and powerful because of his relaxed facial expression and because he has a whole page dedicated to an image of him.

The image covers a whole side and the ‘WK’ logo covers half the other page which leaves less room for text, which continues the theme of hip hop magazines having little text. Fits in with the stereotype of the audience of young men who like this music to not be very intelligent, or care very much about reading.

He is wearing casual clothes which shows he is quite care-free and doesn’t need to try hard with his appearance to be respected.

Uses the pun- “can the Pittsburgh rapper (puff puff) pass”, need knowledge of the rapper to understand. Also relates to the image and its drug representation.

The text refers to the theme of drug use (marijuana) which is represented in the image. This provides the page with a main theme and some consistency.

Long shot of the two rappers together, shows their companionship and makes them look powerful and dominant. His pose of opening his arms wide makes him look ready for a fight, which relates to theme of the interview. Provides some consistency and a relationship between the image and the text.

The articles headline has lots of asterisks which hide the swear words. This adds to the stereotype of rappers swearing and being anti-social. It also attracts the general target audience of young men who can relate to this language. However the swear words are not blanked out in the text which makes it relaxed. This attracts the audience because it is not to formal or have complicated language.

The language used in the text is suitable for the target audience of young men interested in this music. It features words only they would understand such as- “Hollow Tip a make you spit more than a hot 16.” This means they can relate to it and feel comfortable reading it.

You must be interested in this article to understand some words and facts used. Such as abbreviating 50cent’s name to “50” and “fift”.

Chains around their necks show their wealth, also their belts, expensive trainers and watches etc. Hegemonic representation of masculinity because audience want to be wealthy and successful so they could aspire to be like them. This encourages the audience to read because they are sub-consciously attracted to the article.

The title of the interview encourages readers as it is doesn’t give much away but entices them to find out more so they are encouraged by their curiosity to read the article/interview.

Colour scheme is very plain. It uses light colours and plain black which make the gold jewelry stand out which adds emphasis to it which then exaggerates their wealth

Big ‘J’ across the text relates to who the article is about (Jay Z) and is red which fits in with the main colour theme. Red also represents danger, blood, passion, fire etc. this makes the image if Jay Z look more threatening.

His facial expressionis quite aggressive looking anyways, as he is not smiling and you can not see hiseyes. He is frowning and has frown lines on his forehead.

This magazine is different to the others I have annotated because the language used is much more standard and can be understood but a larger audience.

The font used on the image is much more masculine and powerful looking than the font used in the article. This makes him look more aggressive and masculine.

Use of a quotation encourages readers as it gives a snapshot of what they are going to read.

‘RapRadar’ alliteration. Encourages reader who are interested in this genre of music (because this magazine isn’t just about rap).

A lot of text, unlike other rap magazines where the audience does not want to read a lot, this magazine is not specifically focused on rap.