Analysing Articles (Hip Hop Weekly)

The artist is originally a skateboarder, but he is also a rapper, which suggests that this article has multiple target audience, this artist is possibly a cross genre artist because we see that he’s rapper which categorizes itself in the rap genre, yet we also see that he is a skateboarder which is commonly linked with the punk rock genre.

The type of language that is used within this article is generally formal language which is done to show the professionalism of this magazine. This magazine is originally one that derives from the hip hop genre. Usually people associated with the hip hop genre are seen as less educated, but this magazine breaks that stereotype to show that people who listen to this genre are also educated, and understand formal language and colloquial language, other than just colloquial language. The articles interview is formal, as well as the reply from the artist which is a rapper, which gives the article formal language value; this is evident when the interviewers use words such as “prevalent”. The artist seems to use some colloquial language such as “mama”, yet he uses formal language such as “I am family-orientated, funny and determined to succeed in various areas.” It shows that the magazine is formal, even though it is targeted at a genre which is stereotyped to be much more colloquial.

The type of tone that the magazine chooses to address the reader as is an intelligent and informed fan, the reason for this is that it does not use any colloquial language unless it is the artist’s reply which shows us that the target audience is also intelligent. We see evidence of this when the magazine chooses to display questions as “You’re from Long Beach, California where the gangs are prevalent. Did anyone try stop you from living your dream?” they use prevalent which is not common in most peoples formal language knowledge, which adds a sense of intelligence to the magazine article, yet they make grammar error by using stop instead of stopping. The audience is seen as intelligent because they are using and learning formal and educational language whilst receiving ideal information about their favourite artist, or an artist they admire. It helps the audience become knowledgeable about rap music, as well as this artist’ career and direction.

Within this article they use two different types of fonts they use serif and sans serif. They use it in the title and the interview. Sans serif is bold text, although serif is text with little flickers on the end of the letters. They use Sans serif for the questions in bold yellow font which distinguishes the questions from the answers. Sans is French for without, which shows us that it means without the flickers on the ends, since serif has the flickers. The answers for the questions are in serif to show the flair and the importance, due to the flickers. The font is similar on the other pages of these magazines which show us that this magazine follows a rule. The way the text is arranged is in parallel lines which make the questions much easier to understand The interview is laid out in a simple way so that it is far more easier for the reader to understand.

The page is laid out with a multitude of stuff, originally a huge long shot image is used on the background and then various stuff are pasted on top of that image. They use two banners on top of the image, as well as a block which has the interview on it. But as the image stands it shows us that the page is taken up 50% by pictures and 50% by text. The image values the visual side of the article, whilst the text shows the intellectual side of the interview.

The artist is presented as a powerful being, or someone great through images because the image is a low angle which makes him seem powerful. The way Terry Kennedy is seated, bares a striking resemblance to Abraham Lincoln’s statue that reside in the Lincoln memorial. This possibly indicates to us that he is powerful, and may be something great from America. We also see his head reach the top of the sky which possibly indicates to us that he goes by the quotation “sky’s the limit”, and by him seeming like a giant, may be a metaphor that he is gong to be a giant in the industry. The meaning is anchored through the text because it states “Being Terry Kennedy” , and by the image being large it may be an indication to how huge he actually is.

The style of the article matches that of the front cover because they both include central images and big yellow fonts. The front cover seems to use only the colours of red, yellow and blue, in which red, yellow and blue are used within the article. The whole of the magazine seems to use the colours of red, yellow, blue and white which seems to be a housing effect, throughout the whole of the magazine.

This article is a very good article because it does not demand any prior knowledge, because in the title alone it tells us who the person is, and what he is going to talk about e.g. the title says “Pro skateboard aficionado Terry Kennedy has made his mark on the industry, but he’s taking the sport to a new level on his upcoming BET series,” which indicates to us that he is a pro skateboarder which is going to make his own television series and within the questions he tells us that he is going to be a rapper, so no prior knowledge is needed about the artist.