Hip Hop

Magazines

XXL •Developed by the founders of ‘ The

Source’

•Become a brand – launched smaller

magazines such as ‘Hip Hop Soul’, ‘Eye

Candy’ and ‘Shade 45’

Features of an issue include:•Interview and photo shoot with a celeb

•Album by numbers – breakdown of a new

album (Kanye West)

•‘Weed laws’ every rapper should know

•Letter from the editor

•8 subliminal ‘diss’ records that no one

claims

•Sneak preview of an album cover

•Twitpic gallery

•Lyrics to songs

•Competition (eye candy of the year)

Front cover•Large masthead

•Image of a well know hip hop star

•Few cover lines

•Colour scheme

Vibe•Target audience is young urban followers

of hip hop

Features of an issue include:•Have a regular section called ‘Vixen’

which is about women in hip hop – this is a

clever feature as it recognises that hip hop

is a male predominant genre and so this

feature makes women feel like they can

read it to

•Interviews

•Countdowns/ charts (50 greatest songs)

Front cover•Large masthead

•Image of a well know hip hop star

•Few cover lines – don’t say anything much

about the feature, just have the well known

names

•Colour scheme – quite typically ‘girly’,

appeals to women and supports the

‘Vixen’ feature

Complex

Features of an issue include:Top stories section:

•Top 50 coolest cars

•New album review

•An artists greatest songs ( Lil Wayne's)

•50 hottest women in video games

•Fashion (Mark Ronson)

Front cover•Large masthead

•Image of a well know star that appears to

the target audience

•Few cover lines

•Colour scheme

•The image and the cover lines suggest

that it is aimed more towards men

Rap – Up •Glossy publication •Released a book called: Rap-Up: the ultimate guide to hip hop and R&B•Rap-Up TV – an online feature to their website

Features of an issue include:•Celebrities favourite things•‘Hands on with’...•‘That’s a rap’•‘In the kitchen with’...•Raparazzi!•‘Stylin with’...•Behind the scenes•........ Swag 101•Class of 2010

Front cover•Large masthead•Image of a well know hip hop star•Background of image is a pattern•Few cover lines – different font styles•Colour scheme•Looks like a fashion magazine – would •appeal more to women especially teenagers