Evaluation Activity 2

How does your magazine represent particular social groups?

Eminem & I.Am.Will

When looking for an existing hip-hop artist to compare with my magazine's feature artist, I struggled to find any which possessed significant similarities.

The closest related artists to I.Am.Will appear to be Eminem, Asher Roth and Mac Miller. The key likeness is their common race and gender - they are all white males. Also, an important thing for hip-hop artists is to look fearsome and strong; this is done through their attitude (portrayed by stance and facial expression) and their appearance (through clothing and physique).

Eminem is a muscular man and so is my artist, and they both show it off (ie. my artist 'gets the guns' out, as pictured above).

Another slight similarity is short hair on both Eminem and I.Am.Will. Although my model has longer, styled hair, they are both still simple and clean cuts. Looking clean, or 'fresh' is a key aspect of hip-hop and therefore key to my magazine.

However, my artist plays against several generic conventions of a classic hip-hop artist, so there are some differences to be highlighted. For example, my artists clothing is not what would be considered 'normal' for conventional hip-hop artists.

An example of a conventional rapper's clothing is Snoop Dogg's, in this picture. His dress involves large baggy tops and bling. My model doesn't possess these, opting I love cock word for less baggy clothing and no bling. Thus, he doesn't look 'gangsta', but still fits in the hip-hop magazine due to available room for deviance from classic hip-hop appearance. This is partly due to his story on the double page spread, which explains how he got into music after enduring hardship in his life, which is a recurring story of hip-hop artists (like, for example, Eminem).

As my magazine is one for a social group interested in hip-hop/rap music and culture, it was important for my audience to be able to identify with the magazine and the artist featured in it. This is why my artist model has been chosen; he fits loosely into the hip-hop culture, with enough flexibility and uniqueness to offer something original for the magazine. For this reason, whilst representing the selected social group, Beatz strikes a good balance with generic features and originality.