Digipak Analysis
- 1. The type of text used extenuates the genre used by the artist. The conventions of a hip hop/rap artist tend to be that they show their wealth through their clothes, jewellery or lifestyle. Because the name of the artist ‘Snoop Dogg’ is in a sparkling, diamond style text it supports the conventions that this artist could have a wealthy lifestyle, which is an iconographic element of hip hop. Furthermore, the gold cane that he is holding in his left hand and the gold chain that is around his neck is another key feature of being a hip hop or rap artist. If you were to review multiple rap videos, the general consensus is that they wear ‘bling’ and have lots of money. Where this may not always be the case, it often is, especially on this cover. Even the dog in the bottom left corner has a diamond muzzle on, with a gold chain around his neck also. Furthermore, the certain dogs used in the cover show that the power the artist has. The angle used for the cover is slightly looking up at the dogs and looking up at the artist. The breed of dog also gives us insight into the persona of the artist. Having 2 Rottweiler's would suggest to us that he is a character not to be messed with, that people should possibly be scared of him, his power and his money. Not only this, but he is sitting on what looks like a thrown with a white shining light behind him. This connotes him being god like and omnipotent. Which again promotes the artist as perhaps being the best as what he does and also gives him a specific identity. Moreover, he is sitting relaxed, diamond rings on his fingers and what looks a rolled up cigarette of marijuana in between his fingers. This type of behaviour may cater to a different audience to the one that maybe other styles of rapper might reach. As people know ‘Snoop Dogg’ to be this drug loving ‘pimp’. And to me this would limit his audience slightly. Which is why there is a ‘Parental Advisory Explicit Content’ logo on the front, as its important that younger people are advised not to listen, because of In my opinion, this digipak is quite a stereotypical one, because it abides by quite a lot of conventions of typical rap videos. Not only does it contain various other characteristics, but it also contains 2 flashy white cars, either side of the artist. This yet again reinforces the notion that the artist is well off and can afford all of the luxurious things in life- if that isn’t already apparent from the cover. In addition to all of the already apparent conventions, there is a large white mansion behind the artist with ‘Snoop World’ on the top. This reinforces the artists wealth and power. Suggesting that if anyone was to be like him, they would have the luxurious life that he does have.
- 2. This Jay-Z ‘Classic Gangster’ album cover isn’t too dissimilar to the previous Snoop Dogg album cover. Perhaps it doesn't have some key stereotypes that the other does. But it does have some that are important to portraying a certain type of artist. The very first thing we notice about this cover is the jewellery that the artist has around his neck. Not only is it clearly gold it is very large and looks extremely expensive. This gets across the key points about this genre of Hip Hop, that these Hip Hop artists are very wealthy and can afford all the ‘bling’ they like. It promotes the artist in a positive light as we link the jewellery to the artist successes. For Jay-Z to have all that jewellery he must be successful and as a result produce good music, or he wouldn’t have these things. In addition to this he has in his hand what looks like gold knuckle dusters and a gold watch on his wrist. These knuckle dusters also portray a side of violence that is more stereotypical of present rap artists rather than older ones like this specific Jay-Z album cover. Furthermore the logo in the bottom left hand corner of the cover also promotes the artist as it is a specific clothing brand. The brand is LRG and is a successful clothing brand, and because Jay-Z has been linked with this brand, it gives the idea that he is also a successful individual (which he is). In addition, the typography of the cover is quite significant. The red text on the black background makes the red stand out. The words ‘classic gangster’ are in red and this connotes anger or danger. The colour of the font and the clothing of the artist match, which may show to us that we should watch out for him as he could be dangerous. Which isn’t dissimilar to the previous album cover of Snoop Dogg who used other methods to show danger or the power that he had. The cover itself is overall quite dark in colour, there is a lot of black , dark red and even the white background is more of a ‘dirty white’. This could give us an insight into the genre of the music. This is because digipaks with brighter colours often have a younger target audience. However with a more dull cover, it could be said that Jay-Z is aiming for the specific audience, who know by the cover what genre of music he has produced.
- 3. The next digipak cover is one of the artist 50 Cent. He also specialises in the genre of Hip Hop/ Rap, with the front cover being very stereotypical from that type of artist. The typography of the cover is important as there are 2 different fonts, one with the artists name in bold, and the other is the album name. However, it is clear the main focus of the cover is the artist in the middle. The fact that there is a bullet hole in the middle of the shot suggests to us that he is involved with guns and gives us the impression he has been or is being shot at. Which is we look into his background he has been shot 9 times, one of which was in the chest, where the bullet hole is aiming. Furthermore, the focus of that bullet shot in at a Christian Cross/Crucifix, which tells us that not only is he a religious man, but he also has enough money to buy this flashy jewellery. This is even more obvious through the expensive jewellery of the inside cover of the digipak (on the right of this text). He has a different Christian cross, a clearly expensive bracelet of some kind and the same watch as the one on the from the front cover, showing a clear link. In addition to this, we see the tattoo on the side of the artists hand ‘G-Unit’. I believe this to be a deliberate attempt of self-advertising, as this not only the hip-hop group he has been involved in since 1999, but it is the name of the record label that he himself has founded. If the audience were to be intrigued with the tattoo on his hand, they would look up the meaning, finding more about the group, only increasing their popularity. On the back cover is the artist to the right of the image, there is the artist in what looks like a rough neighbourhood, with him looking over his shoulder. This connotes to us as the audience, that he is always having to watch his back because of perhaps who he is, or what he has done. In addition to this the text at the left of the screen as bold and contrasts the dark background, this could show that even if his life may be dark, the songs he writes might be the opposite. Also, there is the names of the executive producers of the album at the bottom. This is hugely important as these 2 names Eminem and Dr. Dre are as famous if not more. So for the artist to be linked with these 2 is hugely important for anyone who is interest in the Hip Hop/ Rap genre because it almost shows the audience the quality of the album or they wouldn't produce it. To conclude on these 3 panels, they are extremely conventional due to the amount of stereotypes of the rap genre. Guns, jewellery, tattoos and dark streets.
- 4. The CD design itself relates to the front cover of the digipak. It has the name of the album on the CD, which is the same typography as the album name on the front cover. It also has various bullet holes over the CD, which links to the front cover having one large bullet hole. This is one of the key characteristics of the hip hop genre. The image below the CD is one of the inside of the case and it is of the artist standing around a table with 2 other men counting their money. Money connotes a few ideas, firstly it is a stereotype of rap and hip hop artists that they have lots of money, secondly it could show their success as individuals that they have to get a counting machine to be able to put a value on their success, or finally it also links with the album title ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’. This seems to be a personal goal of the artist and as he is standing their with lots of money and flashy jewellery around his neck, we would assume that he has met this goal. In addition to this, the artist is in the middle of the 2 other men standing up, this could show a hierarchical system, that the other 2 men are counting his money for him whilst he stands around. Showing the power he has, this tells the audience that he is important the figure is. To match the front cover and the disc, there is a gun down the artists trousers reinforcing themes of violence and anger. In the final image at the bottom there is an image of what could be the artist pushing lots of money down his trousers. This has key characteristics of hip hop videos, the artist here is being a commercial exhibitionist as he is showing off the wealth he has to the audience. Although the fact that he is hiding the money down his trousers shows that it could perhaps be illegal activity i.e. drugs.