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1. Hip Hop Album Covers Analysis
Front Album Cover – N.W.A –‘Straight Outta Comton’
The Album cover shows a low angle shotof the whole N.W.A group looking at the camera,
and pointing a gun at it.
The low angle shot makes the members of the group seem powerfuland this is reinforced
by the fact one of them is holding a gun. This fits in with the whole theme of ‘gangsta rap’,
and shows thestyle of their music straightaway. The image is suggested to be a point of
view shotof someonethe ‘gangsters’ kill.
The tall buildings in the background show thatthis is an urban setting, and the album name
also suggests this.
At the top and bottom of the image there are black patterns to makethe image look as if it
is torn, which fits in with the album’s theme of violence.
The red font has the appearanceof graffiti, and the colour connotes blood or violence. This
makes it clear to the audience that the album is about urban powerful/violent gangs.

2. Back cover of ‘Encore’ album by Eminem
This is the back of Eminem’s ‘Encore’ album cover, showing Eminem dressed smartly
pointing a pistol presumably at someone.
The entire image has blue lighting and almosteverything is dark blue, which is a colour that
suggests depression and generally results in a dark, moody atmosphere.
Following the rules of Z-pattern advertising, the audience is likely to read the album name
and then look at Eminem’s facial expression which is very serious and moody, the same
mood that is reflected by the colour of the background.
Next the audience will see the focus point of the image, which is the ‘bang’ sign hanging out
of the pistol. This is contrasted with the rest of the image as it is red, black and white, and
this helps to draw the audience’s attention to it. Furthermore, this part of the image
also contrasts with the general mood and idea of the rest of the image. Itmakes the pistol
look like a toy, and the whole scene therefore looks like a joke, which contrasts with the
lighting and Eminem’s serious expression. This leaves the audience wondering if the scene
is intended to be a joke or to be serious.I personally think the purposeof the ‘bang’ sign is
to represent the censorship, and Eminem’s feelings about being made to look like a joke.

3. Print advert for ‘Encore’
This is the album advert for the same album as above. Itfeatures an image that was used
for some of the album cover copies, and shows Eminem bowing to the audience with his
left hand behind him. The back cover of this album shows thathe is hiding a gun in that
hand. The lighting is the sameblue colour, and so is the curtain, which reflects the general
mood of the songs and of Eminem. At the bottom, all the technical information is visible,
and the release date of the album, so that fans remember to buy it when it is out.
This album advertis quite similar to the other Eminem album images, as it features a
curtain and Eminem wearing a suit and tie. This represents how he mustchange his look to
appeal to his audience.

4. Print advert for ‘The Eminem Show’ album
The dominant colour in the image is red, referring to another main theme of Eminem’s life
and his songs – violence/blood. Eminem’s figurehowever is surrounded by black, to draw
the audience’s attention to him, but also to make his body blend in into the background, as
he is wearing a black suit, and this makes his figure appear smaller and also connotes his
dark mood, which is also apparent from his body posture.
The lighting is low key overall but there is a bright stage light aimed to the microphone, as if
Eminem is supposed to be performing there, as suggested by the album title. He is instead
sitting in the background behind the curtain, seeming depressed.
His positioning in the background may be in order to suggestthat the audience is watching
his privatelife, as if it was a show. This is the samething that is meant by the album name,
as his songs areoften about his private life and personalfeelings.