The album cover of Curtis Mayfield's "There's No Place Like America Today" uses visuals and text to tell a story about racial inequality and the failed promise of the American Dream in 1970s America. At the top is an image of the White House representing the politicians responsible for segregation policies. Below is a happy white nuclear family, contrasted with a poorer image of black people at the bottom, highlighting the different realities for white and black Americans. The cover criticizes the notion that America offered equal opportunity and prosperity for all.

1. Digipak analysis- Curtis Mayfield: Theres No Place Like America Today<br />Genre<br />I wouldn’t say the genre in particular is represented in the album cover though I could say u definitely get a vibe the genre is R&B from looking at it, it definitely has that old folk vibe to it. I would say that the audience would more say that it represents the time of the release of the album being 1975 more than anything<br />I would say that the genre is established by the actual picture itself the mise-en-scene with the theme being the American dream and the fact that in the time the album was produced during the time in which racism and the separation of black and white people was still very much ongoing even with the abolition of slavery, so the album cover itself with the words no place like America today and then a big picture of a white of a defined nuclear family being that of prefect in society with a mum and dad with the 2 kids and on the bottom of the picture is a little snippet of the poverty stricken life that black people were experiencing during the early to mid 1900’s which in essence is contradicting the whole concept of the American dream which America tried to show that it was available for every 1 one in which it actually wasn’t. Which I think the very top of the picture is pointing out in which it shows a fraction of the white house in which the audience can interpret as the fact that the politician people who run the country are responsible for this segregation and essentially have the power to make America what it is/ was <br />Narrative <br />Yes the album cover is telling a story exactly in order of whole the album is constructed being that the name itself is a macrocosm of the American dream in which America was perceived to be offering to the whole of America when in essence it was only available to the 2whites. The actual pictured/visual used in the album cover is an actual microcosm of American society and how the American dream worked being that the top is the white house the people who came up with the concept of the American dream and who actually decided who’s was eligible for living the “perfect” life below being a blown up picture of the white American nuclear family happy and smiling driving in their “perfect” car in the beautiful country side and below that a glum picture of the black society queuing up with their baskets totally emitting the poverty stricken life that they were adhered to live, the whole album construction is in essence showing the hierarchy of power in them days. <br />Yes the text on the cover does contribute to a cultural and social narrative, being that of highlighting the segregation of black and white people being that the title is “there is no place like America today” which is exactly telling the story of the segregation along with the picture almost contradicting the title which many would probably perceive as a positive message when in essence the picture is telling another story<br />Representation<br />The artist Curtis Mayfield represents himself in his album cover of portraying the time in which he was living in exactly, showing his perception on life through his eyes most likely will be the most popular perception from his audience.<br />The most dominant representational concept highlighted is that of ethnicity in which album cover and the narrative text is clearly highlighting the segregation of black and white people, and the hierarchy of society in America<br />I think the stereotypical representations represented in the album cover are the racism that black people were experiencing and how much power the politicians and white people had over black people<br />Audience<br />I think the target audience of the album would be that of middle aged to older ,black people of both sexes , as I think they would better be able to understand the text and the concept being represented.<br />Media language<br />I think the technical aspects used is the actual construction of the album being the hierarchy of the white house, the nuclear white family and the poverty stricken black people at the bottom, to construct the perception of failed American dream<br /> <br />