Music Magazine Analysis - XXL (baby and lil wayne) & VIBE (usher)

The XXL Masthead really sets the tone of what genre the magazine is based on. The use of diamonds in the font automatically holds connotations of wealth and money which is prominently mentioned in recent hip-hop/rap music. The number of chains on their necks also compliments the title as it too shows connotations of wealth and money, revealing they have enough money to afford the quantity of chains. 'baby' and 'lil wayne' both are shown shirtless. This reveals their full body tattoos which suggests they are flaunting their masculinity, as tattoos hurt when being done. This appeals to younger teenage boys who tend to look up to rappers. Not only that, the fact that they are showing their bodies means that they are attracting interest from young impressionable teenage girls, in other words the image has sex appeal. 'baby' has his arm around 'lil wayne' and this can be seen as 'baby' protecting him, almost like a older brother to a younger sibling. the poise of both men (tilting head) shows a great degree of arrogance which is linked with hip-hop culture. It is well known that the lyrics used by the latest rappers is to boast about the money they have and the image helps embrace this. The main cover line's font is large so that the reader knows what the main article will be about and the red colour used in this image helps it to stand out as red has connotations of danger which is linked into gangster rap and hip-hop. The background in the image was purposely blurred and the effect of this is that is focuses the attention of the reader to the focal point of the image, 'baby' and 'lil wayne'.

The VIBE magazine's masthead font stands out as R&B style as it is big, bold and stands out in your face. The colour baby blue also helps underline that point as it represents a cool and smooth nature. This also relates to 'usher' because he is an R&B artist,and  they are expected to have this personality. His name 'usher' and the main image of him overshadows the masthead which means he is more important. This could be down to the fact that he is the centre of attention because he is famous and can be identified on a global scale. So in many ways it could be seen as the company VIBE using usher's image to sell more magazines. The front page consists of primary colours which help the cover lines stand out. The use of Yellow, Red and Blue highlights this. The little 'e' in the masthead draws little attention to the name of the magazine. There also was the use of graffiti style font on the word 'swagger' which helps underline the colloquialism in the term 'swagger' to have style. usher is wearing much less jewellery in this image as a pose to 'baby' and 'lil wayne'. This could be down to the fact that R&B in general has a more mellow vibe to it than hip-hop, which is more urban. Likewise with the tattoos, usher is only showing one, which again links to the subtlety of R&B. in this image usher is seen as a metro sexual, this shows that he appeals to both homosexuals and heterosexuals. The ring finger image reinforces the main cover line but also is showing a 'gangster' side to usher in the fact that the finger is provocative. This is because it is being used like a middle finger which is a sign of dislike or discomfort towards someone. the sunglasses that usher wears makes him seem enigmatic, almost saying 'I can see you but you cant see what i'm looking at'. Usher likewise with the arrogance of 'baby' and 'lil wayne' is shown when tiling his head. This shows a strong link in culture between hip-hop and R&B and also reinforces the cover like "(king) is back". the use of the word "sex" is all over the front page, it is mentioned over a staggering 3 times. This could suggest that usher has a great deal of sex appeal because the nature of R&B is generally to talk about making love.