MISE-EN-SCENEIconography:In rap magazines we see typical objects and items used frequently because these items are there to relate hip hop fans to the artist and to create an overall image for hip hop. These items include sunglasses, lots of jewellery such as golden or silver rings and necklaces and snapbacks. Some artists pose with no top on to show off there tattoos and body, most rappers are arrogant but not just from their lyrics but how they dress and show of certain items. The easiest way or them to do this is to do it on a front cover on a magazine. Most artists use these items to make it clear for the reader that they know that the particular artist they are reading about is a hip hop artist. Once again Kanye is wearing a white top to be represented as a God-like figure compared to the rest of the rappers who wear dark, more masculine colours.

In this image 50 Cent is about to rap some lyrics and we know this because there is a microphone in front of him. This shows that he is either recording a new track or just free styling some lyrics. In the background you can see that he is in a studio because of the walls that are shaped to make the room quiet so that when he is rapping there is no background noise and it is just the sound of him rapping. He is wearing clothes that are the typical stereotype for a rap artist, such as; a snap back, a sleeveless top and jewellery. His facial expressions tell us that he is in a serious mood which is a typical mood for rap artists to have because they want to be taken seriously, especially when they are rapping the want the listeners to hear what they are saying in their songs. The background is also blurred and dull to make the audience focus on 50 Cent. In addition to this 50 Cent is wearing red to further focus the audiences eyes. The connotation of the colour red is linked with violence and passion, which would make sense why 50 Cent is wearing these colours. Especially being that rap is aggressive music and red is an aggressive colour linking to both violence and passion in which the two attributes linked closely with the music genre

MISE-EN-SCENEIn this image Jay Z is shown to be standing in front of a brick wall and this is to show that he is on

the street and suggests that he grew up on the streets like most other rap artists. The background and facial expression suggests that he is not interested in what the audience have to say about him and that this is who he is. The snap back has NYC on it which suggest that he was brought up in Brooklyn and he wants to represent that city because he was born and raised by the city and its streets. The all black clothing provides masculinity and the chain represents that he is successful to the degree that he can spend a lot of money on expensive golden jewellery. Even though Jay Z is not making eye contact with the audience he still shows confidence in the way he is, that he doesn’t care what anyone says about him and that he knows he's good at rapping and is one of the best.In addition to this, Jay Z is not making eye contact with the audience with lack of direct address, his body and facial language suggest that he is disinterested with the audience because he knows he is ‘better’ than both his fan base and musical opponents. However due to the brick wall back ground, Jay Z is seen to be still in touch with his origins and therefore can relate to most of his fans.

In this image of Eminem you can see that he stares boldly at the camera and that he is pulling a very serious facial expression. He also looks fearlessly at the camera to show that he is not afraid and doesn’t care about what anyone thinks or says about him. This can be backed up by some of the lyrics and songs that Eminem produces, rapping about how he does not care about anyone's opinion of him and this image strengthens that persona. The background of the image is blurred so readers will be more focused on his body language so they don’t get distracted. Like many other rappers it is a common theme that their dress sense is dark and masculine because the rap genre is predominantly men. Eminem also follows the theme of wearing jewellery however his is a cross which suggests that he is religious and cares about the people that he loves. The cross also suggests that he thanks God for giving him an opportunity to live better than how he used to live, the poor side of Detroit with little money and a bad relationship with school and his mother. Because this photo was taken for his new album recovery the cross can resemble that faith and love saved him from his drug addiction.

MISE-EN-SCENE

From looking at Mise En Scene in modern day rap, I have learnt that the way in which my artist will look, is the way in which he will come across to my target audience and therefore will affect my audience from purchasing my magazine. I can now develop my ideas on how my artist is going to portrayed through my media magazine, on whether he is going to go for a more masculine costume with colours such as black and red, or if I am going to get him to be more God-like in the way he is represented. Such as, lighter clothing like Kanye West and a low camera angle so that he can portray a sense of power. From this I can now try out a few different body language poses that my artist can represent either anger or smug as these will also meet the conventions of modern day hip hop.