Front cover analysis

This Magazine is XXL and similar to Vibe this magazine specialises in the genres of Hip Hop and R&B. From the front cover of the magazine you can see that the target audience of this magazine is young people aged about 16-26 with an interest in Hip Hop. The sell lines consist of different stories about mainstream artists such as Mary J. Blige and Ludacris. This highlights that the magazine is targetting a mainstream audience. The typography of the magazine is basic consisting of mainly three colours (white, blue and red). This is a typical convention of a music magazine. The layout of the magazine is also typical with a large key image with the main headline in the largest font. Similar to Vibe the size of the font varies with the importance of the text. For example in this magazine the most important story is on Fabolous and The-Dream so that is positioned in the centre of the front cover and is in large font and also written in upper-case. The mode of address is direct. This is shown through the key image as the artists are looking directly at the audience engaging them. The main image of this magazine is an image of two mainstream aritists Fabolous and The-Dream. This image follows stereotypes as you see the jewellery worn by these artists and the tattoos which is associated with artists of these genres. The choice of costume for the artists is also typical of artists in this genre like the Cap and the sunglasses. Also the champioship belt worn by The-Dream connotes that he views himself as the champion of R&B. The tattoos and jewellery represents the luxurious life that these artists live. The serious facial expression by the artists similar to Plies on the cover of Vibe is another typical feature associated with artists of these genres. The colour scheme of the front cover is red, white and blue this may have been done to associate these characters with the USA as that is also the colour scheme of the USA flag. In contrast to the Vibe magazine this magazine doesn't have any offers for readers and this is a theme in most editions of this magazine. 'Hip Hop on a higher level' is a synchronising motif used in every XXL magazine and the use of alliteration makes it more memorable. The front cover of this magazine adhers to the typical conventions of a music magazine. Male artists of the Hip Hop and R&B genre are represented stereotypically as living a luxurious lifestyle signified through their jewellery and tattoos. This magazine is published by Harris Publications who also publish 'Scratch' magazine.