Nothing was the same // album cover analysis

Front Cover – Drake // Nothing was the same•Shades of blue are seen to be the dominant colour within the album and is without a doubt eye catching in the shelves.

•The colour blue symbolises trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, and truth which is what the songs in the album are trying to portray.

•About the artist - Aubrey (Drake) Graham is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter and actor. He was born in Toronto, Ontario.

•Drake is known for his soft melody and emotional lyrics. Most of his songs contain R&B and Canadian hip hop elements. A large portion of Drake's work incorporates elements of both rapping and singing. Drake has even described himself as "the first person to successfully rap and sing." He went on further about his statement by saying "I'm one of the few artists who gets to be himself every day”. His lyrics are emotionally moving and speak the truth.

• On the front of the album is an oil painting of a child staring to the right. There is meaning behind this child because it perhaps represents Drake in a sense and how much he’s developed as a person through his first hand experiences of fame but still carries the ambitious, motivated and optimistic nature of a child.

•The title of the album along with the artist is placed on the corner of the cover and doesn’t appear to be bold and stand out because it may reflect Drake’s attitude to fame and how his name wasn’t important but the music he rights and also the artwork cover may be more aimed to attract the attention of consumers rather than the Artists name or perhaps fans could already distinguish the album through Drake’s nature.

•The ‘Parental Advisory’ sticker: the industry regulates itself. This gives a warning to whoever buys this digipak that there may be language and content that could cause offense.

•Hip-hop stars have been criticised for portraying guns, cars and ‘gangsta’ images. Critics say this presents a negative image for young people to follow and also sets up stereotypes of black culture however this album doesn’t portray any of that because Drakes style of music doesn’t mention most generic hip-hop lyrics but instead almost preaches overcoming struggles i.e. fake friends.

•The facial expression on the childs face seems to be optimistic and inspired, almost the way one would look at a role model. This album encourages the audience to dream big and be yourself.

Front cover (Deluxe Version) •This is the Deluxe version of the ‘Nothing was the same’ album. Drake is far from the first rapper to brandish his heart on his sleeve, but he is the first to craft an entire persona around this concept. What makes him so appealing and this album so unequivocally successful is that behind his tortured soul there’s a perceptible and refreshing humanity to everything he does.

•This version of the album presents the artist him self in the same position as the child from the original album but instead he is looking to the left. This connotes that perhaps the present rapper is reminiscent of his past and feels nostalgic which also reflects his songs such as ‘Started from the bottom’

•The colour blue symbolises trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, and truth which is what the songs in the album are trying to portray.

•Nothing Was the Same is essentially an album of bedroom confessionals with a million dollar budget. Drake isn’t a monolith of culture beyond all reproach; he’s a regular guy who hasn’t quite figured his life out yet and this is what the album is trying to present.

•The facial expression on the artists face suggests that he is trouble by something and has a lot on his mind which perhaps foreshadows the tone of his music within the album

•If both versions of the album were placed side by side, you would find that both faces would be staring at each other which connotes the idea of ‘finding yourself’ which was Drakes ultimate message towards the album.

•The colour scheme on both covers are light and very basic: different shades of blue and brown. This suggests that the genre of music just touches upon rap but is more soft and melodic. Giving off a tranquil vibe to the audience.

•Audiences are able to indicate Drake’s albums through its simplicity but in depth meaning behind it, similar to his lyrics.

•The artists brand logo is presented on the back of the album, the logo represents ‘OVO’ which stands for Octobers Very Own which is used to indicate that this is one of Drakes works.

•Production details: They are in small print as this isn’t so important to the fans. It contains the necessary details and legal information such as copyright, production team, record labels etc.

•This is the list of songs that are included in the album in chronological order and also mentions special features by other artists. •The back of the album

kept its colour scheme of a light shade of blue.