costume/props

                                                                                               Over sized, diamond encrusted watches are worn by all rappers and hip hop artists as it is an item of jewelry that can determine how wealthy you are. This needs to be visible in my final product as it is a common item seen in the rap music industry and will therefore help connote what the magazine and artist is about.

 

                                                                                                  

From its birth, hip hop culture has been majorly influential for a lot of fashion trends. One of the most recognizable is the sporting of chains .Both silver and gold chains are worn by rap and hip hop artists to also show off their wealth, my cover artists will be wearing a chain for this specific reason. Since most rappers come from low to middle income upbringings, it also represents their rise to success, especially if all odds were against them prior to their careers. However these beautiful symbols of success not only portray the fact that they have money, but alos represent literal chaining,a practice that was done during the times of slavery. They wear chains as a symbol of paying homage in an ironic twist, howver, they put themselves in the the very chains that their                               ancestors worked so hard to get out of.

                                                                        snap-backs & fitted basketball caps are worn by most rappers, depending on their age and image, they are not an item to show off wealth as they are reasonably cheap, they are simply a fashion accessory and also an item the artists may have worn from a young age, particularly in the U.S due to the popularity of basketball, which isn't as high in the UK but are still worn by many UK artists and the public.

Expensive fur lined coats are also seen to be worn by successful rappers and hip hop artist such as Jay Z and 50 Cent, i may choose to include a coat similar to this one, depending on how my photo shoot turns out. however it is likely that my artist will be wearing a vest or jumper as these items have a greater link to the stereo type and give a more street/ gangster affect which is portrayed throughout the Genre that is rap and hip hop.

 all of the above items are commonly used by rap & hip artist as items of clothing, jewelry and as accessories which is why i have chosen to use them as props for my music magazine, without these specific props i wouldn't be able to get a professional look that real artists have across magazines such as the source & XXL.I believe the items that i have picked will allow me to gather successful photos of my artist during my photo shoot in preparation for my main task. They will complete my final products by giving them the professional quality audiences would expect as these items are what audiences would expect to see, as well as this they help the audience 

(Progress) what i will be doing next

After carrying out my focus group, drawing up the sketches of my pages and analyzing key conventions i have now concluded that the next step i need to take in order to aid the production of successful magazine pages is to plan what my artist will be wearing and what sort of props i will need, as props are often used to emphasis conventions, to do this i will be researching the typical things artist wear and what sort of props are viable in real magazine pages.  I will be using Google and real magazines such as XXL and THE SOURCE whilst conducting this research. Once this is done i will be considering setting up a photo shoot.

title block analysis

 ‘The source’ magazine focusses on hip hop and rap music, the style of text used for the masthead connotes this well as it is bright, bold & urban, and the colours of the text also contrast with the background. The use of the hand wrapped around a microphone as a logo also supports the suggestion that the magazine’s genre is mainly hip-hop and rap. This is because hand held microphones are most commonly associated with hip hop and rap freestyles. The microphone embedded within the logo is good for advertisement as it allows the source to stand out from other magazine competitors, as the logo is eye catching and unique.

 

The masthead of this magazine is a single letter; it therefore doesn’t give anything away about the genre of music it focuses on. This could suggest the magazines covers a wide range of different genres and appeals to large target audience. However the font used looks to be quite traditionally, this infers the target audience could be of an older age, the letter does stand out due to the contrasting white on red but its doest look too modern and so therefore wouldn’t appeal to a younger audience.

The use of dark colours on this logo aswell as slashes through the text suggests that this magazine focuses on genres such as rock & heavy metal. The magazine would therefore appeal to a young middle aged audience who are passionate about there particular music, that being rock and heavy metal.

Designing my title blocks

After deciding the genre of music that my magazine would focus on I had to decide on a title/ logo, after hours of thinking I came up with the idea of zone as I believe the word zone links closely to the aspects of rap and hip-hop music. As the masthead is the first thing the reader see’s it is import to get the text and font perfect as the title says a lot about what is inside the magazine it can also be the key thing that convinces someone to either  read the magazine or buy it. My next step was to decide on the font/ style of text I would use, after going through several websites I managed to shortlist down to a few which I believed were the best. The last font looks to be the best so may use it on my front cover, however my mind may change.

 

 

scan of pages

Comparison Of My Magazine Sketches With Real Media Products

( Progress) What i plan to do next

After filming my focus group i gathered a great deal of important information about what are the kinds of things i need to include in my magazine pages and what conventions i need to follow in order to attract my target audience, which is those aged between 16 and mid 20's who listen to Hip-Hop and gangster rap music and associate themselves with this culture. The next stage i plan to take in order to aid the production of my main magazine products is to produce sketches of what i plan to make my magazine look like, whilst i am drawing the plans for my magazine pages i will be taking into consideration the feedback i received in my focus group video.

focus group

Key conventions analysis

One of the most generic conventions of vibe, and most music magazines, is that its masthead has the same font and generally the same colour, however vibe tends to change its font colour to suit the topic of each magazine. In this case the masthead is mainly read connoting death linking to one of the subtitles that states ‘I literally almost died’. None the less the masthead of each vibe magazine is large and easy to read & in some cases the masthead can be overlapped by the central figures; however the readers still know it is there.

The central figures throughout vibes magazines tend to represent the stereotypes that are associated with hip-hop & rap music. They do this by ensuring things such as jewellery and tattoos are visible on the artist’s body.  They are generally extremely famous and wealthy men who age between there 20’s  & 40’s and are seen by some to be attractive.

Vibe achieves their customer loyalty by simply maintaining particular features from issue to issue. These features include articles & personal interviews with relevant artist; vibe also gives its readers the ability to vote/decide on topics such as their favourite rapper of the current year and so on.  In my opinion, I would say that vibe is aimed at generally males aged between their teens, late 20’s & early 30’s. The types of adverts featured in vibe also seem to mainly target the male sex. They include men’s footwear (sneaker files, Nike air Jordan’s) and technology such as Hyundai’s new range of hybrid cars.

           

Vibes magazine feature a variety of both male and female artist, it isn’t often that the female artists show complete nudity.

this front cover  therefore shows that vibe is willing to offer some variety to their magazine to decrease tedium and to possibly appeal to other potential customers while not totally changing their image.

JAD Feedback

Lots of work missing here Paul. Complete the following tasks and post on your blog immediately:

Key conventions analysis
Focus group video
Costume/props planning
Drafting

You have missed deadlines for the above work.

Also, your school magazine contents page is missing. If this is not completed, you will lose 25% of marks from the main task!

reader profile

Reader profile

Jason is 19 and lives in London. Like most teenagers Jason has a passion for music, particularly rap and hip-hop. Whether he is on a bus journey or simply chilling at home, Jason always ensures he has a music playing device close by allowing him to zone out to his favourite tracks/artists. If Jason isn’t listening to tunes he’s talking about them to his friends, he lives and breathes music 24/7. Jason’s appearance is heavily influenced by his favourite music icons, the brands he wears are also influenced by these icons as he believes they wear only the best quality. Technology is also a major part of his life, he is particularly interested in state of the art headphones and speakers such as beats by dr.dre and 50 cents new sleek range.   Jason lives on a deprived council state, the lyrics within the tracks he listens to allows him to relate to his own life, as many American rap artist have been brought up through tough and troublesome times, this motivates Jason to get on with his life and be successful as many rappers have been able to make it and get out of their daily struggle in deprived areas.

This is a mood board i created using images which represent the personality of the typical reader of my magazine, The images are mainly of artist the reader is likely to listen to and what sort of clothing they are likely to wear.

Audience Profile Mood Board from paulrattigan96

font cover, double page spread & contents page analysis

Media pages from prattigan96

An Introduction to West Coast Hip Hop & Gangster Rap Genre

The Genre I plan to use for my main task magazine pages

Hip-hop is a celebration of diversity. If you find that no two MCs sound alike, it's because their musical stylings are informed by different environments and attitudes. Here's a brief rundown of hip-hop sub-genres and the key artists in each niche.

Alternative Hip-Hop

Alt-rappers typically colour outside the lines. These artists are less concerned with pop hooks and dance moves. Their main goal is to push the envelope and explore unique concepts.

Key Artists: The Roots, Lupe Fiasco, Del the Funkee Homosapien

Battle rap is a style of hip-hop music that blends braggadocio with the quest for lyrical superiority. Seasoned battle rappers focus on boastful lines and self-glorifying rhymes about one's proficiency or level of success, accompanied by verbal insults hurled at the other party (directly or subliminally).

Key Artists: Kool Moe Dee, Jay-Z, Canibus, LL Cool J

Gangsta Rap

Gangsta rap revolves around aggressive lyrics and trunk-heavy beats. Despite its huge acceptance in the early 90s, gangsta rap has come under fire lately for misogyny and violent themes.

Key Artists: Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube

Hyphy

Hyphy is a relatively new musical import from the west coast. It incorporates an uptempo, high energy style. Hyphy is also characterized by witty lyrics and rugged beats. Critics were quick to dismiss it as a fad at first, mainly because it's an offshoot of crunk. Regardless, the Bay Area has enjoyed a measurable amount of success with their brainchild.

Key Artists Keak da Sneak, E-40, Mistah F.A.B.

Snap

The slick polyrhythms of snap is naturally accompanied by finger snaps (hence the name) and occasional whistling to create a distinct melody. Though this style of hip-hop grew out of Atlanta, it quickly spread to other cities in the U.S. Unfortunately, snap fizzled out almost as soon as it became popular.

Key Artists Dem Franchise Boyz, Yin Yang Twins, D4L

West Coast Hip-Hop

There's a generational misconception in hip-hop that lyricism is only synonymous with the east coast. The Left coast may be the home of gangsta rap, but it's also home to G-funk, lowrider music, freestyles and yes, lyrical hip-hop.

Key Artists: N.W.A., Too Short, Ras Kass, The Game, Freestyle Fellowship

The genres i plan to focus my magazine on are West Coast Hip-Hop and Gangster Rap, when researching examples of real magazine i will be searching for artist that feature in magazine that relate to these two genres.

front cover school magazine

school contents page

Potential Photos for School magazine pages (Preliminary Task)

This is a mood board i created using the photos that i gathered from the photo shoot for my school magazine, they are the potential photos that i will be including in my magazine, on the front cover and contents page.