Cross-media case study:Tinie Tempah

Background- early careerHe began his music career in 2005 after joining Aftershock Hooligans and producing hundreds of songs. He left Aftershock in 2007 to co-find the independent label Disturbing London. He then signed for Parlophone in 2009 after being spotted performing at Wireless. Through Parlophone, he released his first single “Pass Out” in 2010.He went on to tour with Chipmunk in the same year and supported Rihanna for four dates on her tour. Also in 2010 he performed his single “Pass Out” at Glastonbury with Snoop Dogg.

Website

Website analysisPromoting new album as soonas website opens.

Font- scratchy/urban: connotesyouth culture for the target audience.

Very urban setting:extremely British and again tries totarget younger audience. Links to places

you can buy his latest album- instant promotion.

Also dates for new shows and live performances.

Main image of Tinie Tempah himself- Nothing distracting Viewer from him.

Other pages of the website include links to social media which shows he is in touch with thelatest youth culture and attracts larger audiences and followings. The website also includes hislatest music video for his new single “Mamacita”. In addition to this are a page for new live shows and a link to his store where people can buy his latest singles and albums. A consistently dark/grey colour scheme can be seen throughout the website, almost as if to promote his urbanand hip-hop genre.

Album artworkSo far, from his latest album “Youth”, only theFront cover has been released. The same Cover is used on his website main page in Order to promote this new album. As alreadyMentioned, the setting is very urban, fitting inTo the genre he has created and audience heHas targeted (which would be more urban, Young people). He features in the main image himself, with a hand drawn picture of a crown above his head. This image of a crown is unique to the brand that he has created and unique to this album. This will perhaps make it more memorable for people and will become instantly recognisable when people see it. This helps to advertise his album and himself.

Previous album artwork

Disc-overy:2010

Demonstration:2013

Happy Birthday:2011

Most recent music video-Mamacita

The video starts with a Wide angled shot of Tinie Tempah himselfSitting in a bar. This Establishes who the Video will focus on.

The video uses a lot of establishingShots of the setting (which is clearlySome sort of favela or urban slum). This is perhaps to reinforce the typicalSetting which is used in a lot of rap/hipHop videos which is urban and relativelyPoor. Furthermore, the colour scheme is Very bright and upbeat, which suits the Style and tempo of the music perfectly asIt is a very fast and positive song. This Allows the audience to fully take in the Song and the setting of the video andAdds to the party like feel that the song Itself evokes.

The video also includes close ups of a few Typical characters we come to expect in Most rap/ hip hop videos. Generally we Expect to see powerful males who are Extremely confident and dominant. It is Also interesting to note how the Crowns on the balaclavas also Features on Tempah’s latest album Cover.

The video also heavily sexualises women Throughout, which is another aspect to this Genre that we expect.

Goodwin Theory analysis

Voyeuristic treatment of women.Heavily sexualised throughout videoAnd people made to focus on their Physical attractions more than anything else.

Frequent close upsUp of main artist toEmphasise who’s song it isAnd to suit needs of record Labels.

Intertextual references: the crown on the balaclavasIs the same crown as Tinie Tempah’s new album- Perhaps promotion of his album.

There are also many genre characteristics, Including an urban setting, dominant male Characters and sexualised female characters.

Conclusion The vibrant and upbeat colour scheme and feel of “Mamacita” is Somewhat of a contrast to the dark and moody colour scheme of His latest album cover. Despite this, there are intertextual References linking the two. This promotion strategy is effective As it creates a lasting effect which audiences will note and be Able to distinguish between the single and the album.

It is clear that Tempah has already established himself a Worldwide reputation, and his frequent use of the crown symbolAs well as expensive looking clothing in his album cover shows That he is perhaps extremely confident in his abilities. This is shownBy his enthusiastic performances in his music videos such as “Mamacita”. As a whole, his marketing strategy is simple yet effective, Not putting too much detail into his website to confuse people but at the sameTime giving them all a true feeling of what he stands for.