The masthead ‘XXL’ catches your eyes immediately especially through the use of the red background as it is bright and stands out the most. The typography is bold and large this shows that it is aimed at males as these represent masculinity. The use of diamonds for the masthead connotes wealth and ‘bling’; these two are usually used to represent R&B and ‘gangster’ and therefore it is easy to indicate the target audience. The way the masthead is behind the main image and not fully shown shows that it is a well known magazine therefore most people would know the magazine name and so does not need to be fully shown.
The main cover line ‘Baby & lil Wayne’ is written in big font which connotes how big these two artists are, anyone who is into the genre R&B will very well know both the artists. Using these two artists in the front cover of the magazine attracts lots of people’s attention as they are very well known, this way they will get more people wanting to buy the magazine because they have lots of fans and people are interested in reading about them and knowing the latest gossip about the two.
The additional cover lines/cell lines include ‘Survival of the fittest’ this has a red background which makes it stand out, the use of the red represents blood which links to ‘the survival of the fittest’ as you have to fight your way to survive. They are saying that they have survived the music industry and are top of the top, the fittest. The cell lines on the side of the magazine have names of other R&B artists such as 50 Cent and Eminem; this is to tell the audience of the other artists that are included inside the magazine so that the audience knows what they are buying. This way they can also get more audience because they have included lots of artists and so there will be some people buying the magazine for 50 Cent and others buying the magazine for Eminem or some buying it only for T.I.
The puff at the top of the magazine says ‘A decade of dominance’ this puff adds to the whole big ‘gangster’ image, it is used to boast about how brilliant the magazine is. They are emphasizing that they have been the top, the best, most powerful, for decades .The use of alliteration with the letter‘d’ catches people’s eyes and makes it more catchy.
The main image/focal point is in the centre of the magazine which makes it the centre of attention, the image is what people first see. From this magazine we can see baby and Lil Wayne with baby’s arm around Lil Wayne as though protecting him, showing us that baby has Lil Wayne’s back. They are both wearing a lot of ‘bling’ which represents the ‘gangster’ image. The logos on the chains are well known logos; this is known as product placement. They are also both topless revealing their tattoos, these tattoos again represent them as ‘gangster’ and also masculine as it shows that they can take the pain of all the tattoos.
This image is homoerotic as it appeals to gay men as well as appealing to women, it appeals to women as women like masculine guys and are attracted to such images, and it appeals to gay guys as the image is of two guys with one guys arm around the other. Lil Wayne is wearing a cap sideways which also represents the ‘gangster’ image as you usually see them wearing their caps sideways. In this image Baby and Lil Wayne look like very stereotypical rap artists through the use of the bling, tattoos and the caps looking tough and masculine. The bling that they are wearing relates to the masthead as the masthead is made out of bling and diamonds which shows them as being wealthy and big.
This image can create an abhorrent reading for some audience as some of the audience may like rap and listen to it a lot but do not like the image it portrays for example on this magazine they have lots of tattoos and are both topless wearing a lot of bling, this may not appeal to some of the audience.
This image could also be an aspiration for some audience as some of the target audience may look up to them and want to be like them.
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