Model Poses to Consider

I have photographed a friend to demonstrate the types of facial gestures and poses I will try when going to do my photoshoot. From my research, I realised that many rap genre magazines, don't have happy, energetic models/ celebrities on the front of the cover, therefore I have gone for a more serious look.

Model Inspiration

Model inspirations from Layla Cairns

Model Poses Video

I have created a short video presenting the different model poses I noted down in class. I thought by putting it together in a video will allow me to remember the different poses, and successfully choose which ones to use for my images. My favourite is the 'Chocolate Box' pose because its main selling point is the beauty the model shows when positioning herself this way. I think for the genre of music I am doing as well, this pose will be highly effective in getting the mysterious, yet beautiful vibe from the model.

Likewise, I  have created a Youtube channel, which is where I will display any videos I make for my blog in the upcoming months.

Inspirational Texts

Genre of Music

The genre I have chosen to base my magazine on is Rap/ Hip Hop. On the mood board I have created, you can see a combined mixture of artists associated with this type of music such as Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar (which I will be inspired by to use in my magazine). Stereotypical items that are seen on rap albums and are related with that crowd of people are things such as money (as seen on the ‘Rap’ logo), designer clothes, tattoos, legendary rappers (such as Biggie Smalls) and gold chains (clipped behind the ‘Hip Hop’ logo).

However, to match my target audience I have included females such as Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé, which also fit within this genre. Regarding the ‘Laura Mulvey’ theory, this represents woman as being an object of the male gaze, and widens the target audience which I have decided upon.

I believe that having good knowledge about rap and hip hop culture, will help me with researching, designing and creating the framework for my magazine. I can then create suitable competitions, and articles that are related. 

Below are some links that demonstrate the genre of music I have chosen, from watching them it helps me understand what sort of clothing/ makeup/ and style the rap genre has, which will be beneficial when designing my own magazine:

• No Church in the Wild- Jay-z & Kanye West ft. Frank Ocean, The-Dream
• Recognize- PARTYNEXTDOOR ft. Drake
• Do it again- Pia Mia ft. Chris Brown, Tyga
• All Eyes on You- Meek Mill ft. Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown
• Gold Digger- Kanye West ft. Jamie Foxx
• My Love- Drake ft. Majid Jordan
• Pretend- Tinashe ft. A$AP ROCKY
• 3005- Childish Gambino
• Blessings- Big Sean ft. Drake, Kanye West

Furthermore, I think festivals such as ‘Wireless’ really represent the genre and target audience. Below is a video I recorded at the festival. You can see the artist interacting with the audience, and the bright colours behind him. This will help me understand the target audience for my own magazine, and what their interests are (for example, going to festivals).

     Concerts like ‘Watch the Throne’ by ‘Jay-z’+ ‘Kanye West’ signify the rap genre well, here are some links that show this:

• Who Gon Stop Me- Jay-z & Kanye West (Watch the Throne Concert)
• Shutdown- Skepta ft. Drake (Wireless Festival)

Moodboard of the Rap/ Hip Hop Genre