By Kamar Ali

Rap/Hip-Hop Magazine Analysis

Introduction

In this presentation I will be looking into the conventions of existing rap magazine and I will be using this research to note down all the main conventions.

I am doing this because I am making a magazine based on this genre and I feel I need to make sure that my magazine can be recognised as a rap/hip-hop magazine and maintain a professional look.

I will then either use or challenge these conventions within my finished magazine

Front Covers:

The magazine title is large and across the top of the page.

Main article title, larger text than the rest of the articles

Some of the other articles within the magazine are stated around the side.

Some company logos are also located around the magazine front cover, including advertisements, barcodes, web addresses and twitter details.

The main image on the front cover is of one person and is a half body shot; as you can see all the focus on the front cover is of this artist

The logo of the magazine is once again locate at the top of the page and is large compared to the rest of the text on the page

The main article within the magazine is in large text down the side, as you can see it is the a similar size to the magazine title.

Once again the main image on the front cover is a large picture of some artists; alike other front covers it is a mid body shot of the artists; and as you can see all the focus of the front cover is on the artists. The background is simple making the artists stand out a lot more.

Information on other articles within the magazine

Once again a barcode is located at the bottom of the front cover.

The main magazine title is located at the top of the page in large text.

The main magazine article is made to stand out, but in this case the text is smaller compared to the text in the magazine title.

Various side articles are spread around the page, ranging in text size but all smaller than the main article, plus these articles don’t stand out as much as the main article.

Here are the various labels on the magazine this includes a barcode and a ‘the upgrade’ symbol.

Once again there is a body shot of an artist on the front cover, and as you can see this has been done to make all the focus of the front cover on this particular artist as it links to the main article

The main magazine name is here, as you can see in this particular case it is the largest text on the page

Here is the man article title, as you can see it is small, but it is the only text on the page, plus it is placed in such a place within the image which makes it stand out

Here is the main image within the magazine front cover, as you can see it stands out due to it being one of the only things on the cover; once again it is an image of one artist and it is a half body shot.

Here is the bar code and a symbol for a radio station, as you can see these are located at the bottom of the page.

What I have learnt from the front covers:

The main points I have gathered from existing front covers are:

• The focus of most front covers in rap/hip-hop magazines are the artist on the front, which will also be related to the main article on the front cover

• The main article title of the magazine is usually on the front cover and it is either the largest text on the page or the second larges; the main article title needs to stand out along with the main picture on the front cover

• Most magazines have the names and titles of other article within somewhere on the front cover, these may be some important articles; but the magazine front cover will always focus on the main article and the artist related to this article

• A bar code is always located somewhere near the bottom of the front cover

• The main magazine title is always at the top of the front cover and is always the largest text on the front cover

• The shots of artists on front covers are always mid-body shots and this seems to be a tradition on most rap magazine front covers; this also allows the attention to be focused on the artist on the cover.

Contents Pages:

The main bulk of text which is the contents is located to the right of the page, the text contains page numbers so the reader knows which pages each articles are located on and it contains some information regarding each article. In the case of this specific magazine the contents page is refer to as ‘features’

The article related to the image is highlighted, with the article name at the top right of the page, and the page number and info on the article at the bottom left of the page

A upper body shot of another artist on the contents page, this shot takes the focus from the text and onto the artist related to the article. This is related to the article highlighted by the text at the bottom left, but this wont be the main article due to it not being on the front cover.

The date is located at the top of the page so people know when this issue was released

Here is the contents section, once again it is located at the right side of the page, and this time it is labelled ‘contents’. Each section of the contents text features page numbers and article names for each article within the magazine.

Here is the main image on the contents page, as you can see it is a mid body shot of the artist but this time round there is no article highlighted with this image, but it will be related to one of the articles within the magazine.

This image has been taken in such a way to catch the readers attention before they start reading through the contents section of the magazine.

Here these is a logo located at the bottom right of the contents page, this logo will be the magazine logo.

Once again the main bulk of text is located on the right side of the page and the text contains page numbers, article titles and a small bit of information of each article indicated on the contents page.

There is a main image on the contents page of one of the artists relating to the article located on the bottom left. This is a mid body shot of the artist and this image grabs all the focus of the contents page.

Here there is the main article information which also links to the image on the contents page, as you can see the text is larger compared to the rest of the information on the page.

Below this there is a artist briefing section which gives the reader an idea on the background of the artist and what they do.

The main bulk of text is once again located on the right side of the contents page, as you can see this text contains page numbers and article titles.

Here is the text relating to the main image on the contents page, as you can see it has an article title and a small synopsis indicating what the reader can expect from this article in particular.

This is the main image on the contents page, in this particular case it is a full body shot of the artist but they are crouched over. As you can see this image has been placed in such a way were it draws the attention on the contents page.

Here there is a date, a company logo and some other information located on the bottom of the page

What I have learnt from the contents pages:

The main points I have gathered from existing contents pages are:

• The main bulk of text on the contents page is usually located on the right side of the page, the text will include article titles, page numbers and in some cases a brief synopsis on what the article is about

• Before the main bulk of text on top there will also be a header which will state that this is a contents page

• Towards the left of the page there is always a large image of another artist (usually different to the one on the front cover) and this image is associated with one of the articles and in some cases this article is stated.

• Once again the image is a mid-body shot of an artist and this image is usually the centre of attention on the contents page.

Double page spreads:

Here is the article title across the top of the page, it is the largest text on the page, also there is a small introductory paragraph underneath the main title

Here is the main bulk of text and this is the article, it has columns and in this case it is three, there is also the artists logo located near the bottom of the page

This is the main image which assists the article on the page, as you can see it is a mid body shot of the artist and is one of the largest features on the page, meaning that it stands out against the text on the page.

The main article title is on the opposite page to the text and it appears with the picture; to the right of the title there is a brief introduction to the article

The main image supporting the article is located on the left page, alone with nothing but the article title, the image is of the artist the article relates to; this is a mid body shot of the artist and it has been portrayed in such a way that it draws the attention of the reader.

Here there is a quote from the article that the writer felt was important and wanted it to stand out from the rest of the article.

Next to this there is another image, not as large or clear as the main image as it has been made smaller and darkened out to make the quote and main image stand out more.

This is the main bulk of text on the page, this is the article and as you can see it is the smallest text on the page, their are two columns and the text is colour coded and by looking at I feel that it may be an interview

Here is the main title of the article, as you can see it is at the top of the page and the first word ‘USA’ is in larger text compared to the rest of the text on this page

This is the main article image, as you can see it is a full body shot of the artist and the image has been portrayed in such a way that it catches the readers attention. This is achieved by using bland colours on the rest of the page and using sharper colours within the image.

This is the main bulk of text and this is the article section of the page, as you can see the image takes up most of the page. Before the article starts there is a brief introduction about the article. The article features three columns and each of them contain small text so that they could get as much information into the article as possible while also making it easily readable.

What I have learnt from the double page spreads:

The main points I have gathered from existing double page spreads are:

• The main image which supports the article is always bigger and presented in such a way in which it draws the attention of the reader

• Their is always a title present and mostly somewhere near the top of the article but there is proof that existing professional magazines have challenges this convention

• Before the main article there is always a brief introduction to what the article is about and what is in store

• The main bulk of text located within the double page spread is always in columns as this maintains a neat professional look within the article

Conclusion:In conclusion if I follow the main conventions of each section of the magazine and use them or challenge them I know that I will be able to create a music based magazine which looks and feels professional.

At the end of each section I did a ‘what I learned’ section and in these sections I noted the key features; I will be using these sections as a guideline for myself while creating my magazine as each of these sections note the main conventions of rap magazines which I will need to achieve a professional and successful final product.

Thank you for watching and I hope this presentation has given you a good idea about the conventions of rap/hip-hop magazines in particular.