Front Cover Analysis 1

The music magazine ‘Vibe’ specialises in a genre of R&B and we can instantly see this by the artist on the cover; Eminem. The masthead ‘VIBE’ uses two colours which are contrasted; red and black however the use of red in the front cover allows the main headings to stand out. Red is shown as a very bold colour which can symbolize passion or danger. The background is of a light grey colour and this allows the other elements to stand out. The colour black is also used which can connote black is a ‘serious’ dull colour. The motif ’50 hottest Rap Blogs’ can be seen as a convention which is used in most ‘Vibe’ magazines and is usually led onto an article. The use of black on this motif can be linked to other artists on the page which are also written in black; ‘Lil wayne, Kayne west, Jay-Z, T.I, Asher roth, Kid Cudi, Clipse’. This can tell the audience that these artists are involved in the “50 hottest Rap Blogs’ aswell as being the most successful.

Many rhetorical questions are used such as ‘Who is the best rapper ever?’  this is emphasised by the use of the colour red which is in block capitals and can be linked to “EMINEM” whose name is also is red. Alliteration is used followed by a quote; ‘VICODIN. VALIUM. METHADONE.’ These are all names of drugs which can inform to the audience that the artist Eminem was involved in drugs. The use of ‘.’ after each word reinforces the seriousness of the drugs. ‘Literally almost died’ can connote because of the drugs ‘Eminem comes clean’. This can be quite stereotypical as many celebrities and artists become involved in drugs at some part in their life and this is maybe due to stress or pressure.

Many connotations are shown of Eminem in the image which is directly addressing the audience via a confrontational stare which makes him look more serious. Instantly we can notice the tattoo’s on his arm which is quite stereotypical as many R&B male artists have this.  This adds to the masculinity of rappers which connotes they can afford things like tattoo’s and are brave. Similarly, Lil Wayne another rapper, also is known to have many tattoo’s which can show this is patriarchal. Eminem is shown to have muscly with short hair wearing a black vest top and this represents stereotypes of men. The chain can signify religious connotations by showing what background he comes from. The image is placed in front of the masthead and this is conventional as many magazines do this to illustrate a strong band identity that the magazine doesn’t need to show their full name as they are well known. This magazine can be targeted at young male teenagers and this is portrayed by the use of dull colours. Furthermore this use of colours implies the artist as courageous and sombre. However the target audience for this magazine can be argued that it is aimed at teenage girls who enjoy Eminem's music.