2. The typography on the front
of the album with the word
Die is red which connotes
blood and death, making
this uncomfortable to look
at seen as a baby is
positioned central above
this.
The typography with the black
and red text used on the album
very much contrasts the white
background, this draws all the
attention to the text which is
what is wanted with a clear
political message being directed
to the audience.
The black baby signifies
fragility and innocence,
with the words ready to die
just below, the baby is
positioned so you read the
words ‘ready to die’ and
then see the baby and
sympathize. The character
blocking of the baby is
central giving prevalence to
the baby.
The white background is used to signify
a message, with everything on the front
of the album now being very clear. This
also reinforces the fact that a direct
message is being sent from the from of
the digipak.
3. • The Digipak for the Ready to Die album is very much a polysomic text with many
interpretations potentially being made. But what is certain is that there is an avant-
garde message being sent from the digipak, this approach from a hip-hop album is very
much unconventional as there is a political message being sent, this can be proven
through the word Die being juxtaposed next an innocent black baby.
• The different potential messages being sent out could potentially be for black equality
with an innocent black baby being central to the front of the digipak sending a strong
message of sympathy.
• Another potential message being sent out is that black people have got to be ready to
fight and to die with their lives never being easy with them having to fight for to
achieve anything in life. The black baby could signify the start of this journey.
• I believe Biggie Smalls is trying to highlight inequality and the fact that black lives
matter and uses a baby which connotes innocence as ploy for sympathy and for all
races to take note as if it wasn’t a young baby and a middle aged man it may not draw
as much attention to it. He also demonstrates this with his lyrics.
5. Within the video many semiotic texts can be seen with
signifiers such as bars and single beds connoting prison, this
tells the audience that Biggie Smalls was in and out of prison
at a young age.
This now starts to construct Biggie Smalls’ meta narrative as
he’s emphasizing a message he didn’t always have an easy life
But this is then strongly contrasted with the pool party in the
video, throughout the video it mixes between the 'hood' and
the party, with a clear message being sent out that he's ‘made
it’ but hasn’t forgotten his roots and the people in his local
community.
6. • At the pool party Biggie Smalls is seen with other people from his
original working class community this suggests he's a man of
loyalty with him not forgetting his past and who helped him
become the person he is.
• At the pool party semiotics are developed when Biggie Smalls is
drinking champagne which signifies a rich and wealthy lifestyle
something which contrasts the other parallel line of action of
street corners and the ‘hood’.
7. Dyer’s Theory
• Dyers theory states that icons and celebrities are
constructed by an institution for financial reasons and are
then built up to fit a specific target audience. This suggests
that a celebrity is not their own person in their own right
but instead a product that is marketed by the record
companies.
• The theory also states that all celebrities have and try to
sustain a star image, which can be done in a variety of ways.
• All celebrities are deliberately represented as ordinary and
extraordinary so you can both relate to them but then also
admire them for being different.
• The theory also states about the star being both present
and absent.
8. Dyer’s Theory
• Dyer’s Theory about extraordinary and ordinary is made evident in the video as
you see two very strongly contrasted lifestyles, with one of wealth and riches and
another of poverty and depravation.
• The Street corner in the video very much presents Biggie Smalls as ordinary as
many of us can relate to being on a street corner in a local town.
• The extraordinary lifestyle is highlighted when he is at the pool party in a
mansion emphasizing an extravagant celebrity lifestyle. A much more distant
relation to everyday people.
9. • Throughout the song Biggie Smalls is present in both two different
types of lifestyles. This in itself connotes that Biggie Smalls has
experienced the lifestyles directly.
• The only part of the song where Biggies Smalls is absent is where his
mum is in prison pregnant with him, this suggests that he was born
into a life and family involved in crime, which starts his meta
narrative.
