Codes and conventions of hip hop

I am going to be looking at the codes and conventions of hip hop, and I’m going to be looking at the codes and conventions of the music itself as well as the artists themselves.

Mission statement and Target Audience Profile for Music mag

Mission statement

My music magazine is called “SWAGGA” it’s aimed a Hip Pop, RnB and Rap music lovers.  Who like unique fresh magazine which is all about the hip hop culture and music scene in England/ America.  My magazine is going to be distributed all across the country and sold on the first of each month in all main newsagents and big high street brand shops like HMV, WHSmith and virgin megastore; as well as this my magazine will be available and easy to buy on the internet, with access to the magazine’s websites on social networking sites like FACEBOOK.

 
My magazine is going to cost £2.50 and will be 50p less if purchased online. my magazine is going to be jam packed with information, news, and facts about the current hip hop scene in America, it’s going to include info on artist coming up in the game, what makes a great artists, shows coming up and great rappers stories of how they made it through the struggle, and help and advice on how to boost your talents, ways to get into the music business and tips on what makes a great artist. The type of artists that will be featured in my magazine will be Tinie Tempah who has done rap and hip hop in London and become worldwide also Nelly and Ti legends of hip hop will be featured in my magazine.
 
Within SWAGGA there is going to be a large number of interviews with artists from all around America and England which include their views on life, opinions and advice. With this my magazine is going to have reviews on artists as well and express its opinions about artist and how good they are live, lyrically, as people and what they have achieved. The types of things that will be mentioned are gigs and there commencing dates; album release dates and their reviews and top chart singles and reviews.
 

I intend to keep a brilliant standard of information, features and articles, so with this I ensure and promise my readers brilliant entertainment and informative information all based around the hip hop scene. I do this in hope to gain and maintain brand identity and to emphasizes the magazines values, that hip hop is an art which should be celebrated and perceived differently.

My magazine will lastly include small competitions with prizes and freebies that relate to the target audience, and will entice them to buy my magazine.

Target Audience Profile:

The reader of “SWAGGA” magazine is mainly male between the ages of 15-25. The Audience that will read this magazine will be very outgoing, interested in music, fashion and socializing. They have a very good sense of humour and very confident within themselves as a person. When they go out they are always dressed to impress just like the artists on the front cover of the magazine and very confident in the sexuality. They won’t be following their mates about what music they like. They have their own opinion when it comes to certain artists and music and will put their point across in a forum or blog about it in a very friendly but self-confident.

He or she isn’t scared to try something new and bold, as other opinions don’t matter to them. With fashion they will never follow the crowd; there will always be something unique or different to the rest of their friends to make them self stand out.

Music plays a big part in their lives. There isn’t a moment where he is not listening to music not matter what they are doing, whether it be completing schoolwork or at the gym. There is a song for everything is the attitude in which he approaches this type of media. Going to clubs where the newest party songs and beats are heard for the first time feeds his desire to find new music. The types of artists could consist of: Drake, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Nelly and Tinie Tempah. Those types of artists make hip-hop / R&B type of music. There lots of music categories that he enjoys listening to such as, Hard rapping  making it easy for him to choose what he wants to listen to depending on what sort of mood they are and what task or hobby is part taking at that very moment. Nelly is an artist that he looks up to; he’s very successful and very dynamic in that he can make a manner of songs that he makes. He has very good sense of fashion, and his personality is very much like his in the way they are very social people and happy.

They will either still be in full time education weather that be, compulsory education, sixth form, college or university. They could have a part time job in where they are earning money for driving lessons, or new clothes, or a holiday away with friends. They enjoy their subjects that they are doing within their education at what level it may be, and on a regular basis complete their work and listen to music. He just doesn’t just do education but also watches a lot of films and also a lot of comedy TV shows like ,”Friends”,” Scrubs” and “How i met your mother”  and much more to keep himself entertained.

With his hobbies being very outgoing and image conscious, he likes to go to the gym regularly to keep fit and healthy. However with all the exercise comes is not what his life is based around. As he is very outgoing and friendly going out to parties and other socializing events is what he lives for on the weekends, gives him a chance to have a good time and meet new people. This then goes hand in hand in the way he is involved in fashion. Buying new clothes is always where his money ends up, looking good and feeling good also makes him glow with confidence.

The reader of the “SWAGGA” isn’t interested in many magazines, as they don’t cover enough of what he likes; they are very specific to one type of music. However magazines like men’s health appeal to his physical needs informing him on ways to improve on toning and defining certain muscles. Films are another type of media in which he shows interest. Film categories like Comedy and Action are all types he enjoys watching. Whether that’s watching it on television, or watching it online. However that’s not the only online service within the media. Browsing on the Internet for clothes, music and communicating with friends to keep up to date on all upcoming social events happening and the latest music his friends with similar taste are listening to.

Preliminary Task

Mission Statement

The magazine is called Social Education and it is aimed at 6^th formers between the ages of 16 – 19.The reader of the magazine is a well-dressed young adult, who also care about their social life, music and sports. Exciting, fresh and informative, this magazine’s goal is to inform 6^th formers about the school and what’s going on; the magazine also aims to provide tips and guidance to its readers in order to help them cope with the demands of school. The magazine will be distributed every month in the common room. Social education magazine promises 6^th formers up to date news about the school they have never heard before and tips to help them, the magazine will make the reader feel good about being in school and will make them feel more confident about coping with their work load and balancing their school life with their social lives. In the magazine will give them new ways to spend their frees it will also give them the best home work tips. And a chance to win free privilege time for a month. The magazine will also feature interviews with their favourite teachers.

Target Audience Profile

·        Age of my target audience (TA) is 16 -19 year olds

·        Gender of my target audience will be male/female

·        In full time education / part time job for independence.

·        Hobbies and interests of the TA could include sports and go out and socialise with friends, looking for part-time jobs and learning how to drive,

·        TA believes that education is important; they see education as a way of allowing them to do well in their life. They also believe that their friends are important and they value the time they spend with them.

·        Needs advice guidance and tips on how to survive at school and how to balance their school life with their social life(entertainment). 

·        The reader will use this magazine to allow them to make the most of their time in 6^th form. It will help them to cope with the stresses of sixth form, whilst enjoying a normal and healthy social life.

Evaluation

I successfully created my front cover and contents page using conventional methods of creating magazines, without playing around with the boundaries of a conventional magazine.
My front cover and my contents page are very similarly; when someone looks at them they will be able to tell it’s from the same magazine, therefore I can safely say I have created my brand identity.
I have made it very clear that my magazine is a school magazine that will entertain and inform students, especially sixth formers. On the front cover I have written in big bold writing necessary information that will make a 6^th former want to buy the magazine.
The front cover of my magazine will attract both male and female student’s but in particular the females because of the handsome lad on the front cover.
The cover will also give some inspiration to the male students on how to dress smart to 6^th form.
I think the main strengths of my production pieces are the pictures and the colour scheme how they correlate to each other.
To make improvements, I believe I could have taken better pictures.

Conclusion

The preliminary task has taught me how to use Photoshop and make it really work for me. I definitely need to research in more depth before I start the practical aspect of my task. There’s always room for improvement, therefore in future I would like to spend more time on the main task and come up with a better finish product. The colour scheme that I used for the pictures and the captions really complemented each other henceforth I would like to use that technique again.