Aymen Soliman Research on a music magazine “Interview”

I’ve been searching many rap/Rnb music websites to gain some knowledge. I was

looking for ideas to help me with my interview with upcoming rap artist “Fatal”.

I came across many websites but the most appealing to me was this one: http://www.xxlmag.com/features/2008/03/dmx-here-i-am/

On this page there is an interview on famous rapper ‘DMX’. The main reason I chose

this XXL website instead of the others is because I really liked the layout. It is very

simple yet basic, allowing people to know what’s going on throughout the interview

without a problem.

The title seems to be very short yet effective. It’s unique and different ‘Here I Am’.

It has the artist name on top of the title showing the reader instantly who this

interview is on. The title and artist name seems to be bigger than the rest making

them stand out. They are also in bold showing its importance. Because of this I know

that I need to make the title big and appealing. I’m also going to use their technique

by putting the artist name on top of the title.

It starts with a big image of who the interview is about. It then shows some

information on the rapper and a little bit of information on his career. It then follows

up with a simple question and answer layout. There are approximately 170 words in

this opening introduction paragraph. This gives me a rough idea of how long my

opening paragraph needs to be. They talk DMXs past record label and his future

plans on his album. This is sort of like a future plan, i may keep this in mind and

develop their idea and mix it in with a bit of a biography about my artist.

I really like the basic yet clear layout. The fonts are plain and small yet the questions

are bold and big. This attracts eyes to the questions. I’m going to do the same though

I will use a lot more colour making it good on the eye. At the end of the interview it

just cuts off without a conclusion. Personally I don’t like this idea. I’m looking to give

a conclusion with personal thoughts and try to relate to the reader a lot more. I’m

also going to talk about my experience being in front of upcoming artist Fatal and if

nerves got on top of me.

After reading this interview it also helped me understand what sort of questions I

should be asking to my upcoming artist. I noticed the questions aren’t too personal

yet they are good enough to give us good amount of information. They are also

questions readers would want to know. I’m going to have to keep this in mind and

also keep in mind what type of questions the audience would like to hear.

Aymen Soliman Research on a music magazine “Interview”

Another interview that interested me was on Vibe magazine. http://www.vibe.com/posts/ti-covers-latest-vibe-talks-drugs-habit-eminem-more This magazine interview is a lot shorter than the other. A lot less questions are asked though they seem to be a lot more personal. I may mix the questions with a couple personal ones but more questions about his career. I’m going to make sure he doesn’t mind talking about the subject as I don’t want to offend him.

The title is very long. ‘Days before he reported back to prison, T.I.

sat down with VIBE's Erik Parker and gave his most candid

interview to date. Here is an excerpt from the explosive

cover story.’ This is different from the past magazine. I personally rather keep my title short

yet effective like XXLs title. The title is also bold and in a bigger font to attract the viewers eye

instantly.

Although there are fewer questions they seem to be questions that are asking for way longer

answers. I rather do this as I can get detailed answers from my artist instead of a Yes or No closed

question. Though I may have a couple short questions.