Analysis of Hip Hop artists album covers

2.  Hip Hop music, also known as hip-hop or rap music, is a music genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music
that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic speech that is chanted.
 While often used to refer to rapping, ‘hip hop’ more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture.
The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a
required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of hip hop culture.
 Hip Hop music formed during the 1970s when block parties became increasingly popular in New York City,
particularly among African American youth residing in the Bronx. At block parties DJs played percussive
breaks of popular songs using two turntables to extend the breaks. Turntablist techniques developed along
with the breaks and the Jamaican toasting vocal style was used.
 The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles. Prior to the
1980s, hip hop music was largely confined within the United States. However, during the 1980s, it began its
spread and became a part of the music scene in dozens of countries.

3. Kanye West
 Kanye West is an American rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. West first became known as a producer for
Roc-A-Fella Records; he achieved recognition for his work on rapper Jay Z’s album in 2001, as well as hit singles for
numerous musical artists.
 His style of production originally used high-pitched vocal samples from soul songs incorporated with his own drums and
instruments. He later broadened his influences to include R&B, baroque pop, trip hop, arena rock, house, folk,
alternative, etc.
 West began rapping in the third grade, becoming involved in the city’s hip hop scene.
 Although his real desire was to become a rapper, record executives did not take West seriously, viewing him as a
producer first and foremost.

4. Kanye West is unique in the sense of his album covers. He
uses artist to design his album covers and he is never on
the front cover of his album.
The first, second and third album shown don’t have any
writing on them. Just pictures. This is different than most
other artists because album covers tend to have the
artists’ name on it or the name of the album.
All of his albums are unusual
and different. Kanye West
uses artists to design his
album covers.

5.  Jay Z (Shawn Corey Carter) is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. He is the most
financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America. In 2014, Forbes estimated Jay Z’s net
worth at nearly $520 million.
 He is one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records, while
receiving 21 Grammy Awards for his musical work.
 Three of his albums, Reasonable Doubt (1996), The Blueprint (2001), and The Black Album (2003), are
considered landmarks in the genre with all of them featured in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest
albums of all time.
 As an entrepreneur and investor, Jay Z co-owns the 40/40 Club, and is the co-creator of the clothing line
Rocawear.
 He is the former president of Def Jam Recordings, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records, and the founder of
Roc Nation.
 As an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200 with
13.
 Jay Z also has had four number ones on the Billboard How 10, one as lead artist.
 In 2009, Jay Z was ranked as the tenth-most successful artist of the 2000’s by Billboard as well as the fifth
top solo male artist and fourth top rapper.

6. Jay Z’s album covers shown are all black and
white. They all show him on the cover. On the
first album, Jay Z is shown but he is covering his
face. His second album shows him stood next to
a nice car. This shows that he is becoming more
successful. Jay Z second album shown also has
his name and the title of the album in bold and
easier to see than in the first one where it was
difficult to see his name and title of the album.
In the third album shown, Jay Z is shown
smoking and acting all hard. He is shown
sat next to some tools of sort relating to
the title of the album – The Blueprint. In
this album his name is in big bold letters
whereas the title of the album is difficult
to view. This could possible mean that his
fans are looking for any album which he
has.
Jay Z’s forth album is called
‘The Black Album’. The cover
for this album is shown to be
all black and you can only just
see the image which is him.
He is shown to be wearing all
black behind a black
background and all you can
see is his skin. He is also
covering his eyes. The title of
the album and his name are
bold and easy to see and are
the same size.

7.  Tupac Amaru Shakur, also known as 2Pac, was an American rapper, author, actor, and poet. As of 2007, Shakur has sold
over 75 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
 He has been listed and ranked as one of the greatest artists of all time by many magazines, including the Rolling Stones. He
is one of the most influential rappers of all time.
 Shakur began his career as a roadie, backup dancer and MC for the alternative hip hop group Digital Underground,
eventually branching off as a solo artist.
 The themes of most of Shakur’s songs revolved around the violence and hardship in inner cities, racism and other social
problems.
 Both of his parents and several other people in his family were members of the Black Panther Party, whose ideals were
reflected in his songs.
 During the latter part of his career, Shakur was a vocal participant during the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry,
becoming involved in conflicts with other rappers, producers, and record-label staff members, most notably The Notorious
B.I.G and the label Bad Boy Records.
 On September 7, 1996, Shakur was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting at an intersection in Las Vegas. He was taken to the
University Medical Centre of Southern Nevada, where he dies six days later.

8. All Tupac’s album covers have a close up of
his face. This is the style which he has
chosen. The main colours used on his
covers are black, white, and yellow. On
some of his covers he has the title of the
album, but on others he doesn’t. on all his
covers, his name is in bold and easy to see.
He is looking serious on all his covers. This
could show the seriousness behind his
songs, which were always about racism,
violence, hardship in inner cities, and other
social problems.
His face is always shown on his album covers
in order for his fans to identify them as Tupac
albums. On the ‘Resurrection’ album (after
his death), in the background there are
various photos of Tupac throughout his life.
This is used as a memorial for his life.

9.  Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is an American singer-songwriter, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she performed
in various singing and dancing competitions as a child, and rose to fame in the late 1990s as lead singer of R&B girl-group
Destiny’s Child.
 Beyoncé's debut album, Dangerously in Love (2003) established her as a solo artist worldwide; it sold 12 million copies,
earned five Grammy Awards and featured the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles “Crazy in Love” and “Baby Boy”.
 She released her second solo album, B’Day in 2006, which contained hits “déjà vu” and “Irreplaceable”.
 Beyoncé ventured into acting, with a Golden Globe-nominated performance in Dream girls (2006).
 Her marriage to rapper Jay Z and portrayal of Etta James in Cadillac Records (2008) influenced her third album, “I Am…
Sasha Fierce”, which saw the birth of her alter-ego Sasha Fierce and earned a record-setting six Grammy Awards in 2010.
 Her forth album “4” (2011) was subsequently mellower in tone, exploring 1970s funk, 1980s pop, and 1990s soul.
 Her critically acclaimed fifth studio album, “Beyoncé” (2013), was distinguished from previous releases by its
experimental production and exploration of darker themes.
 A self-described “modern-day feminist”, Beyoncé creates songs that are often characterized by themes of love,
relationships, and monogamy, as well as female sexuality and empowerment.

10. All of Beyoncé's album covers but her
last one have her on the cover. She is
always shown from the torso up, never
her legs. Also, she wears quite
provocative clothing on her album cover;
her first one is her wearing silver chains
as a top, her second one is her wearing
nothing and covering herself with her
arms, her third one is her wearing a low
cut top, and her forth one is her wearing
a fur waistcoat which is covering her up.
Her fifth album has no image of
Beyoncé on it. It just has her name in
bold. The letters are striking as well
because they are light pink against a
black background. This is because she
is known around the world so she
doesn’t have to put her image on the
cover of her albums because her fans
know her album without having to
look at an image.