CD COVER ANALYSISJAY-Z SERIES 17

FRONTThe R‘N’B/ Hip Hop Genre

is reflected by the stylized

font of the word as it

connotes the fancy/ lavish

lifestyle that they are

associated with.

Bright lights are normally

associated with stardom, so

the use of bright lights on

this cover suggest that he is

a star

With the use of the bright

lights and the almost dark

buildings or background it

perhaps shows the contrast

between success and failure,

and suggests that’s he's

come a long way from the

dark settings an now his

name is up in lights.

The red highlight of the

words perhaps suggests

that he has gone through a

lot of pain to get where he

is now, and reinforces he

statement of ‘no gain,

without pain’

The use of the gold

glasses shows his wealth,

and reinforces his success.

He is looking directly at

the audience, which

perhaps suggests that he

is happy for people to

look at him and recognize

his talents

His facial expression is almost

reminiscent of a poker face in

that they do not want to give

anything away to their

opponents, however he does

look calm, cool and has that

superstar image associated

with artists of this genre. Also,

he could be wearing the

glasses to cover the ‘pain’ in

his eyes that so many people

in this genre seem to have,

which infers that in this

business you can be someone

else or cover up what you

don’t want people to see.

The words are on he top and bottom of the

cover which leaves a space in the middle for

the design and the face, which infers that Jay-

Z is the centre of attention or that he wants to

be

The iconic words of ‘Living the Dream’

suggest that he is doing what he dreamt

of all his life and has got exactly what he

wants, however the stern expression on

his face perhaps suggests that he is not

as happy as he thought he would be,

maybe because of the controversy and

media associated with artists of the

genre e.g. illumunati movements

The setting of New York suggests that he

has made it and he is successful as New

York is regarded as the place to make it big

and where dreams are made of.

BACKThe song list has very small

writing and it is hard to read, but

the picture in the background is

much bigger which could perhaps

suggests that now he has made it

big he cares for about the wealth

than making songs

The long list of songs serves to

show all his hard work as there

are a lot of songs, and this

suggests that he had to go onto

a long journey to reach the top

The use of the black

background with the purple

letters proves to make the song

titles stand out, and the black

background almost acts as the

darkness that he was brought

up in and the colourful writing of

the songs perhaps shows his

songs are now up in bright

lights and in the mainstream.

The big bright yellow Lamborghini

shows that he is rich, and has a

wealthy lifestyle. These type of

expensive cars are also associated

with modern day R ‘N’ B rappers

who are displayed by the media to

have a willingness to splash cash

whenever they can. This also adds

colour and makes the cover more

presentable which would persuade

people to purchase it.

The use of his name and the

album cover’s number on the car’s

number plate shows that he is

powerful , and is rich enough to do

things that most people only

dream about.

SPINE

You are able to read the name

of the album on the

backgroundThe use of not having much

information and dull presentation on

the spine directs the buyer to look

at the front and back of the CD

cover where more work has clearly

been put in.

INSIDE PANES

The simplistic nature of the inside panes

suggests that although with his rise to

superstardom and his perceived boost to

ego, he remains a grounded and simple

person

The use of the colors black

and white perhaps suggest

that his music is for all

different cultures, this is key

as the stereotypical view of

the R N B/Rap genre is that

it is only for black people

The separation of the Dream and Jay-Z perhaps

suggests that he his trying to stay humble and not get

too ahead of himself, as it is not rare for artists to have

a couple good years and then die off.

Also with the positioning of the words

with the dream coming before Jay-Z ,

maybe it suggests that he has not

reached his ultimate dream yet and

he may be striving to get towards it,

also as they are not too spaced out it

could suggest that he is nearly there.

The image in the middle is

reminiscent of the triangular

symbol of the illumati clan. This

is interesting as it makes critics

and fans question if Jay-Z is part

of this alleged group or if the

image was simply chosen as it

was suitable for the design.