The ‘Riddim’ reader: Jacob aged 16; he is a young male college student studying music technology and drama. He is into singing and rapping and has the ability to write his own raps and songs. In his childhood he grew up in the rough part of Thamesmead in South East London. He grew up in a black neighbourhood where he developed his rapping and singing skills through imitation. He performed at many school talent shows and local festivals where he became famous for his skills. Jacob also has the ability of playing the keyboard/piano. He wears the type of clothes that appeals to his type of music for example caps and hats and baggy clothes and trousers. He has an obsession of Gucci and Ralph Lauren clothing. Jacob enjoys his easy life as he is very wealthy and always gets what he wants but he is very grateful and doesn’t take advantage of what he has. Jacob is very ambitious and is academically gifted and talented. Jacob is the only child in his family and lives with both of his parents. Jacob is into all types of music but he is mainly inspired by hip-hop and r’n’b as most of the black culture is interested in this genre of music. Jacobs’s main idols are Michael Jackson, Chris brown, Drake, lil Wayne and Rick Ross. On weekends and in his free time he enjoys playing sports and chilling with friends and in some occasions he likes to go partying. He enjoys junk food and eats heavily; he enjoys takeaways and eating at restaurants.

To develop my magazine for my target reader Jacob, I am going to include several fashion trend sections in my magazine which will consist of many of the products that Jacob likes to wear such as Nike, Adidas, Ralph Lauren and Gucci. There will also be many celebrities modelling these clothing brands. The magazine will not contain just one genre of music which is Hip-hop, it will also contain many other genre’s such as dancehall, Reggae, R ‘n’ B, UK Rap and funky. Artists that will be included will be people like Chris Brown, tinie tempa, trey Songz, and many others; the list goes on.  There will be a star sign section at the end, giving in detail each star sign information of the month. There will be the latest gossip on the music industries, consisting of leaks of new singles and celebrity gossip. And finally there will be a lyrical double page, presenting lyrics of the top 5 singles of the month the product was issued.

The ‘Riddim’ reader: Arnold Johnson; a young male, 18 year old college student studying sports and fitness and also part of the marching band of his college as he plays the snare drum. Singing isn’t really his thing but he is into rapping and has written many raps jus for the fun of it. In his childhood he grew up in South East London, Lewisham. He grew up in a black neighbourhood where he developed his rapping skills and that’s when he new he was into music. He isn’t really into the performing thing unless he is performing in front of his friends in college like he used to do while he was at school. Arnolds drum skills is another thing he is known for as he is very talented and can do many tricks. He is obsessed with famous branded clothes like Nike and adidas as he is a sports fanatic and is a footballer. He doesn’t mind what he wears as long as it suits him and he looks cool. Arnold enjoys life even though he isn’t very wealthy; he does a lot of things on his own without having to go to his parents for everything. Arnold is very ambitious especially with his football career; he hopes to become a professional footballer as he is a semi-professional footballer at the age of 18. He is also gifted and talented academically. Arnold is the middle child in his family as he has an older brother and a younger sister. Arnold lives with his mother and his step father. Arnold is into many types of music including UK Rap and Grime, Funky House and Bashment. Arnold has many idols but he is mostly inspired by Michael Jackson even though Michael Jackson doesn’t have Arnolds type of music. Arnold is busy on weekends as he has football training on Saturdays and has the football match on the Sunday, throughout his week he is in college or at football training. Arnold enjoys junk food but has to maintain a balanced diet because he is a footballer.

To develop my magazine for my target reader Arnold I am going to include several fashion trend sections in my magazine which will consist of many of the products that Arnold likes to wear such as Nike and adidas clothing and footwear. There will also be many celebrities modelling these clothing brands. The magazine will not contain just one genre of music which is Hip-hop, it will also contain many other genre’s such as dancehall, Reggae, R ‘n’ B, UK Rap and funky. Artists that will be included will be people like Chris Brown, tinie tempa, trey Songz, and many others; the list goes on. There will be the latest gossip on the music industries, consisting of leaks of new singles and celebrity gossip. And finally there will be a lyrical double page, presenting lyrics of the top 5 singles of the month the product was issued.

The ‘Riddim’ reader: William Hill; a young male, 17 year old college student studying Music and Sports and also makes instrumental beats for UK Rappers. William is into rapping and has produced many rap instrumentals for upcoming famous young artists. In his childhood he grew up in South East London, Peckham. He grew up in a black neighbourhood where he found his hobby of beat boxing which inspired hi to make rap instrumentals as he was very good. He is obsessed with famous branded clothes like True Religion and Lyle & Scott as he likes to show off what he has got. He doesn’t mind what he wears because he doesn’t dress to impress. William enjoys life even though he isn’t very wealthy; he does a lot of things on his own but still needs the support from both of his parents as he is still growing up. William is very ambitious especially with his Music career; he hopes to become a famous beat maker for rappers and be known global for his skills. He is also gifted and talented academically; he left secondary school passing music with and A* grade. William is the oldest child in his family and has only one little sister. William lives with his mother and his father. William is into many types of music including UK Rap and Grime, Funky House and Bashment. William has many idols but he is mostly inspired by Rick Ross and Tupac and even Biggie smalls. William is a busy person as he makes instrumentals for people and sells them he also helps to record for people as he has his own studio in his house. William enjoys junk food but has to maintain a balanced diet because he doesn’t want to become overweight and start looking unattractive.

To develop my magazine for my target reader William I am going to include several fashion trend sections in my magazine which will consist of many of the products that William likes to wear such as True Religion  and Lyle & Scott clothing and footwear that he likes. There will also be many celebrities modelling these clothing brands. The magazine will not contain just one genre of music which is Hip-hop, it will also contain many other genre’s such as dancehall, Reggae, R ‘n’ B, UK Rap and funky. Artists that will be included will be people like Rick Ross, Meek Mill, trey Songz, and many others; the list goes on. There will be the latest gossip on the music industries, consisting of leaks of new singles and celebrity gossip. And finally there will be a lyrical double page, presenting lyrics of the top 5 singles of the month the product was issued.

Mood Board

Contents Analysis

·         This contents page only contains one picture of an artist named 50 Cent.

·         There are no huge titles that stand out on the page; the image stands out on the page.

·         The contents page seen starts from page 50 to 116

·         The articles are divided into one long column

·         On the bottom left of the page you can see the page number 48 with 50 cents name on the bottom of the number; this shows that the page is for 50 cent as he is in the image.

  

·       This contents page contains two images; one big and one small.

·       The title ‘Base’ runs along the top of the page and the articles are divided into two columns; a small one on the top left of the page and a long list running down the right hand side of the whole page

·       Both images have a little caption and page number.

·       The contents page does not start from page one.

·       The images are in color.

·       The font used is a serif font

·       There are two images used one big image that covers most of the page and one small image

·       The title of the contents is quite small and doesn’t stand out as much as the image does.

·       The articles are divided in to one small column underneath a small image and underneath a small heading called features

·       On the bottom left if the image you see the page number 48 and it is aimed at the people in the big image. Again the contents page does not start from page one.

Double page spreads

Magazine Mock Ups

Screen munches of conversations of favourite types of music etc.

Textual Analysis 5

DENOTATION

The magazine cover consists of a black and white photograph of a man looking directly at the camera. It is a medium long shot showing his head all the way down to where the top of his stomach is; his arms are also visible as they are lifted up. The background of the photograph is white, and the photograph of the man covers the whole of the magazine cover. Behind him is the ‘XXL’ masthead and in front of him and beside him are different cover-lines. The photographed man’s name is in block, black capital letters with a little slogan underneath it. A bar code is visible on the bottom left corner of the front page of the magazine.

MASTHEAD

The ‘XXL’ masthead is similar to the ‘Q’ magazine masthead with the white letters on a red square background. The font used is a non-serif font as none of the letters on the masthead have flick ups or small feet and do not join up. The letters ‘XXL’ is another way of saying extra, extra large. The letters ‘XXL’ tell readers that the magazine is extra, extra large and packed with information about artists and many other things.

CHARACTER

The cover photograph is of the successful black American hip hop/ rap artist ‘Diddy/P Diddy’.

COMPOSITION

He is posed in a very cool and street type of way as he is popping the collar of his jacket up and showing his gold teeth to the camera. He looks a bit intimidating as he is from the ‘hood’.

COSTUME

The image is black and white so you cannot really tell what colour clothing he is wearing but I can see a white jacket and white shirt with a chain hanging on his neck. This costume has been chosen carefully to appeal to the target audience of the magazine, who are most likely to be young male and females but mostly females. The clothing worn is similar to what other hip hop artists would wear in videos and photos. The sunglasses on his face complete the look.

NVC

His non-verbal communication is also very cool, fly and even seductive. His mouth is open in a way that his shiny teeth are showing and his eyebrows are arched as if he is screwing his face at the camera

LIGHTING

The lighting is used is high key as the photograph displays brightness and no obvious shadows.

SETTING

From the camera shot that is used we can’t really see any setting because we can only see some of his body and the rest is cropped out the photo.

COVERLINES

The main cover-line that relates to his photograph says: “Hip hops No.1 mogul Diddy” this cover-line is trying to convey to readers that Diddy is very successful in the hip hop culture and his fans him as the king of hip hop. The “Mo Money. No Problems” reference relates to the fact that the more money you have then the fewer problems you will have. The different cover-lines tell us that this magazine doesn’t concentrate on just one genre of music, and doesn’t fully focus on music either, but is diverse in what it chooses to write about. Artists mentioned on the cover lines include Chris Brown, Soulja Boy, Nas and Damien Marley (there is a definite emphasis on American artists). None of the cover-lines use a serif font.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Considering all these points, the likely target audience would be young male and females equally because they see Diddy as an idol to them as he inspires them with great songs and collaborations that he has done with other artists. They would have a good knowledge of popular culture and a definite interest in a wide range of musical styles and the music industry generally. They are also likely to be well educated/well read, and have an interest in American popular culture.