1. XXL Magazine
The XXL magazine was in the beginning published by Harris publication in 1997, which was
eventually taken over by Townsquare media. In the start they only included a few artist’s,
the likes of Jay-z and Master P. In this initial issue it touched on subject matters, such as
their upbringing and what they had to do, to get to where they are now.
Two significant things happened that would shape the magazine and its future. Firstly, on
the 13th December 1996 one of the most iconic rappers of our time 2PAC Shakur was killed
in a drive by shooting. This shook the rap industry and devastated his fans. Secondly on the
9th March 1997 the notorious B.I.G was killed in a drive by. He was a renown rapper who
had considerable following within the rap community.
These events had a massive impact and with 2PAC and Biggie they both left a void within
the rap culture. Biggie still influences a lot of young artist’s since his death, including Jay-Z,
J. Cole and last but not least Logic. All of these artist’s referenced him in their songs, with
lyrics such as “I grew up a F**Kin screw up” used by J. Cole in his song 03 adolescence.
In the beginning they would have had less restrictions in what they published. Since the
start of the magazine they have had huge artist’s including – Lil Uzi Vert, XXXtentacion and
Mac Miller in their freshman years.
The American hip hop magazine is about and coming Hip Hop artist’s that have made a
name for themselves within a niche audience, their magazine helps them reach a wider
audience. The magazine references the artist’ childhood, because it shows where they have
come from and what it has taken to get to where they are now.
A lot of rappers draw from their life experiences, especially from their childhood. I think this
must be why rappers regularly mention NBA within their lyrics. Sport and in particular
basketball would have played a big part in their growing up. The majority of rappers grew up
in poorer communities, which is why the lyrics would include the experiences they have as
young adults and the struggles they went through. I would imagine this is why basketball
was a way to unwind and enjoy themselves with their peers. An example of this can be
found in Kanye West’s song “Can’t tell me nothing”, with the lyrics “but homie this is my
day/class started 2 hours ago, Oh am I late?/No, I already graduated/and you can live
through anything if magic made it”. This is a reference to Magic Johnson, an Iconic Lakers
basketball player.
NBA legend Scottie Pippen was on the front cover of their NBA XXL No.45 issue. This is a
reflection of the mutual respect that rappers and NBA sports personalities have for each
other.
2. The front cover on the 10th anniversary edition has a very bold look, incorporating only two
main colours, only black and red. Most rappers are from an African America decent, which is
made apparent on the front cover image. There are only a handful of white rappers that
have made it big in this industry, one being Eminem.
The Photo shows the rappers sitting and standing next to speakers and decks, which are all
part of the Mise En Scene and are references to the music industry. The statement their
clothes and jewellery make is that of success. Rappers are iconically known for showing
their wealth. Be it through clothes, jewellery or cars. I think everybody would have a
different option about what the cover is trying to say to its readers. My personal option
would be that they are all wearing black because it shows they are proud of the fact they
are black.
When it comes to the photography side of this piece of work, they have decided to go for a
long shot, so that they can fit all the individual artist’ in the picture, at the same time
showing them all coming together as one. They haven’t used a low angle, which shows
3. dominance, or a high angle which shows weakness. Instead they have left it so that it shows
that they are all neutral and that’s the kind of message they want to send to their audience.
Keeping the camera angle slightly tilted down, shows they are equal in their own right.
When it come to the lighting, they have made sure it come from the front, because this
reduces the amount of shadow. If you look at the photo there is next to no shadow at all, in
doing this they have made the image pop.
The photographer has chosen to use a studio. This has enabled them to have complete
control on the lighting and removes any other outside influences, such as wind and clouds.
If they had shot the image outside there is only two main times that might get the perfect
shot. These are known as the golden hour or the blue hour in which you might achieve the
ideal photo image. Natural lighting isn’t very reliable.
One of the things I like about this magazine is the typography, because they have made sure
all of the texts work well together and have limited themselves to two fonts which are serif
and sans serif. The text that is seen straight away would have to be the large XXL I the top
left-hand corner, which is in bright bold blocky text. This has been used to grip the attention
of the viewer and entice them into purchasing the magazine and makes the brand more
apparent. The other large piece of text which you instantly see is the bright yellow text
saying “2017 Freshman class” using a serif font, the colour yellow is used because it is very
energising and also an eye catcher, which is obviously something they want to do. The lesser
text is in the top right corner, which goes through other freshman’s over the last couple of
years, they have used a plan white serif font. They have chosen to have as little text as
possible as they want you to focus on the front cover being the artists.
I think overall the XXL magazines give a positive outlet for the rap industry because they
want to show the good side of the artists and don’t want to shine a light on the things that
make them less popular. They have chosen these artists because they know they are going
to blow up in the next year. Which shows they have done their research into the artists, to
make sure they choose the up and coming rappers for the Freshman class.
They have tried to add some diversity by including a female and a Mexican rapper. Some
individuals stereotype rappers assuming what they are like as individuals. They jump on the
band waggon as soon as there is news relating to an incident involving a rapper. This has a
negative effect on all rappers.
In 2018 XXXtentacion was shot and killed. He was a young talented up and coming artist
who had turned his life around. He had a troubled past and had spent time in juvenile prison
for battery. This is the point the magazine try’s to show throughout their publications, your
past doesn’t define you.
4. Bibliography:
Andres Tardio. (2017). 10 Artists the Notorious B.I.G inspired . Available:
https://www.rap-up.com/2017/03/09/10-artists-the-notorious-big-
inspired/. Last accessed 13th Jan 2019.
Revolt TV. (2017). XXL 2017 Freshmen Behind-The-Scenes
Shoot.Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF9aYe3oTH8. Last
accessed 13th jan 2019.
Avoleoo. (anon). Revolt TV. (2017). XXL 2017 Freshmen Behind-The-
Scenes Shoot. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF9aYe3oTH8. Last accessed 13th
jan 2019.. Available: https://graf1x.com/color-psychology-emotion-
meaning-poster/. Last accessed 13th jan 2019.
anon . (anon). camera shots/camera angles. Available:
http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-54_u-251_t-647_c-2411/camera-shots-
angles-and-movement-lighting-cinematography-and-mise-en-
scene/nsw/camera-shots-angles-and-movement-lighting-
cinematography-and-mise-en-sc. Last accessed 13th jan 2019.
Anon . (Anon). 1997 History, Facts & Trivia. Available: https://pop-
culture.us/Annual/1997.html. Last accessed 13th jan 2019.
