XXL Textual analysis

 XXL 9th Annual issue

Front cover analysis

The image

1) The artist takes the whole frame up, this may show dominance and may symbolize their role in the Hip-Hop/Rap industry. The idea of power, success and dominance is represented through many things in this image such as tattoos which are over the majority of their skin, the connotations of tattoos are that each one has a deep meaning or story behind it. So for the artist to have a lot it shows how much they have been through and how much they have struggled, also when seeing someone with tattoos we either subconsciously or consciously label them as an alpha male or even as a 'gangster'. As the majority of the audience live in rough inner city areas, they may be able to sympathise with the artists on an emotional level. Therefore, to see artist like them who have gone through a lot and have become so successful, would be inspiring. The mid-shot of the two rappers, Baby and Lil Wayne, allows us to see all of the tattoos which subconsciously sends signals to the reader about their masculinity, their struggles and their past.

2) The chains not only represent wealth and success, they also represent achievements such as trophies. We could link the size of the chains to the size of their success, and because they have multiple chains it could show that they may not only be successful in one thing but have other multiple achievements.

3) Direct address is used here to intimidate the readers, as Baby lifts his head to look down onto the reader. By doing this he is authorizing a higher status than the reader. This could be in hopes to gain respect as the audience will look up to them as examples of beating the odds. Direct address makes the message more personal almost giving the reader encouragement as to say, "don't you want to be successful like us?" This may be the reason why the majority of the artist on XXL front cover are very successful in different ways. To motivate their audience. The fact that the rappers are not smiling is to show that it is not a joke their struggle, their break through and their success.  

4)Their stance shows that they look out for each other which reflects the hip hop industry and even the music industry in general  as labels often become close friends and even consider one another as family.

5)You can not see much of the background however it looks like a old burnt house this may show what the artist have come from. The contrast in the lifestyle is desirable which will motivate people, despite this the background is quite simple this may be to put the focus on Baby and Lil Wayne.  

6) The hat is side ways this gives the look of a “bad boy” which could be appealing to hooligans and young female adults. This gives Lil Wayne the top dog look as if he is superior.

•The master head

•7)This issue has stuck with its tradition of bold capitals with white color  for XXL with a red rectangle behind however for this issue the master head has diamonds on it this is to celebrate XXL's 10th anniversary, there would be a magazine on top so the readers may not be able that its the 10th anniversary but from the masthead alone would be able to tell there was something special. 

•The language used in the tittle 

•8)The overall colors are dark and white (for the cover lines)so any writing in red stand out and catches the audience's eye, grabbing their attention. Secondly this sticks with their three way colour scheme I think this is due to it being XXL 10th anniversary as they would try and stay true to form as they are celebrating how far they have come.

•9)Many fonts are used, some are bold Arial whilst others are like Brush Script MT which is seen as more fancy the reason for this is because the issue is released on the 10th anniversary,  however they also kept the font similar to Arial because if it was all like Brush Script MT the magazine would be seen as feminine and they have rap artist who are supposed to be seen as masculine so it would be contradictory also their audience is predominately male.  

•10) The anchor was used which is a convention of a music magazine

•11) The plug informs the reader that this particular issue is XXL's 10th year. 

Context analysis 

Side A

1)The context page follows the style of the cover as it still has the XXL logo in the top left corner of the however it is smaller. This may be to remind the reader that it is an XXL magazine but not draw attention away from the main cover stars who are also on the front cover. They could have of also reduced the size to show that it is not important as the rest of the content that is on the context page. By doing this they are trying to focus the reader on the image and the page numbers.

2)The layout of the context page is very neat and simple as the format is very structured  the logo is at the top on the middle is the main image and at the bottom is the name of the articles is listed and numbered in chronicalogical order. This makes it easier for the reader to find the article they want instead of wasting time flicking through the pages as there are many adverts. The cover story page number is in a different colour (black the others are red)it is also in a bigger font. This is to show its the main story of the issue and it has the most importance this is why it is one of the first articles in the magazine.

3)The back drop is the plain white this is to add focus to the cover stars as they are the important ones and the main focus of the article.

4)The majority of the stars has a gold chain and/or a gold watch this is to show their wealth, their rise up this relates to their song 'all the way up'. The colour gold is associated with success, triumph and wealth. so by wearing these chains they are showing us their happiness with their successful new song. One member of the group has a gold grill on both teeth as well as a gold watch, bracelet and necklace. All this gold may tell us that he is the leader of the group as well as he has the most success and is the wealthiest.  This idea is emphasized by the fact that he is center staged.

5)The angle of the camera is higher up than the stars this symbolizes the meaning of their song 'all the way up' . However this makes the artist look small so this could be saying that despite coming a long way they still have a bit more to do as they may feel like they are not completely successful or where they want to be.

Side B

2) The second part of the context page has very few listed articles unlike the first part. The articles  listed are articles that they normally have on their magazine. It is also on the middle right-hand side. This gives more space for the cover star. This might increase the amount of attention we give the cover star. This may also imply that the cover star is more important than the regular "departments" even though eye candy is one of them, this emphasises that she is more important. By doing this XXL is conforming to Hip Hop as attractive women are assets to rappers and are often bragged about. So by picking the right woman for eye candy is important as it shows the audience that XXL know what is deemed beautiful (tan, small waist, toned body and a "big" bottom)

5)The change in the location (a cave on the beach) changed in tone and feel of the magazine as the setting is more exsotic. This may make the model seem more desireable to the audience because of what Hip Hops idea of beauty is.

1)This part of the context page is not as important as the first part as it is labeled 'The B side'. Using the letter 'B' it indicates that this page is less important that 'The A side' as A is before Bin the alphabet. I also know that this page is less important because if they were trying to communicate that the two context pages are equal they would not label it side a or b and they would also have the main cover stars on it. 

4)The main cover star has a direct mode of address, this gives makes it more intimate  between her and the reader. This may make the audience reading feel more personal as it seems as if the model is looking at them.
The red lighting changes the mood/tone of the context page as the connotations of red is love/ lust but when the red light was used for the double page spread for a male model it was used in a way which made him look intimidate and dangerous. This emphasises the gender roles and how women are just sexualised. 

3) The model is wearing little clothing exposing a lot skin, this give males something to enjoy looking at, as she is "eye candy"
The eye candy is always of women this shows that XXL is targeting men mainly because they are the gender who buys the magazine more however if they maybe have the eye candy be a attractive man the amount of women who buy their magazines will increase.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Double page spread sheet

1) The page star- DJ Drama, makes direct address to draw the reader in into reading the article and not just turn the page. He also has a stern facial expression. A red light shone on both sides of his face . All of theses things make the audience perceive him as an alpha male as smiling is seen as flamboyant also strong eye contact communicates dominance as it shoes that your not shy or "weak". The connotations of red is danger so it is as if we should fear him.

2)The backdrop is a dark colour which is seen as a masculine this emphasises his masculinity, the reason they may have done this is because in the Hip Hop being masculine is so by doing this they the reader may respect him. Having a black backdrop also makes it easier to see his outline so you can see his broad shoulders which is also a sigh of masculinity. furthermore it makes it easier to see the red lights on either side of his face it which make him look intimidating not only because the connotation of red is danger but because it make the middle part of his face darker. 

3)He wears a black t-shirt because it shows dominance and this brings attention to his facial expression rather than his outfit, it also makes it easier to see his silver chains which is also well respected in hip hop as it is a sigh of success.

4) The model wears a chains not only as it is seen as the Hip Hop look (conforming to the conventions of hip hop in terms of apperance)but it show his wealth as silver is an expensive so the fact that the model wears multiple shows how wealthy he is. This may convey to the audience that he works hard for his money or that he is good at what he does. However gold is more expensive so maybe he is not as wealthy as he could be.

5)In the stand XXL introduce the topic they will be discussing. DJ Drama's name is in all capitals in a different colour (red) to the rest of the text. This was done to show his importance, as the whole article is about him and he has a significant figure in the Hip Hop music industry. This may also symbolise him being unique and different no one is as good as him or has his style. Or it may of been done just to catch the readers eye when they glance over. However the fact his name is in red could symbolise that he is a danger or threat to other DJ's because he is so good and/or unique. 

6) The article does not follow the music magazine coventions as the article does not start with a drop cap despite this they still have colums of the width, credits of the journalist, a pull quote  and XXL URL at the bottom of the page.

The style in which the article is written in is informal. This may be done for a variety of reasons one of being is to cater to their targeted audience, as thrugh their market research they would of found out that the average income of their reader is lower than average and is african american so would live in poor areas there for may not speak standard english due to lack of education and other things. So by XXL using slang it makes it easier for their audience to understand, it suits the genre as many rappers use these abreviated terms. Because the reader understands the language used they are more likely to buy it again, this way XXL can maintain a certain amount of sales and profit.