This document provides a textual analysis of the album cover of Donell Jones' 1999 R&B album "Where I Wanna Be". The analysis discusses three key elements of the cover design: 1) the use of lighting from a cigarette that illuminates Jones and signifies his journey to a brighter place, 2) a hand providing light to Jones that represents his goal of aiding his audience, and 3) a medium camera shot that shows Jones' full body and the illuminating light. The analysis suggests the cover was designed with more meaning and effort than other enjoyed albums to represent Jones' intention to benefit listeners.

1. This is a textual analysis of Donell Jones’
1999 R&B album “Where I wanna be”.
This is one of my favourite albums and it
stands out above other great albums
that I own. The cover doesn’t necessarily
stand out because of it’s colours, but
because it has much more meaning
behind it and I feel that more effort went
in to making this design than other
albums I enjoy such as 112’s “Pleasure
and Pain”, so enjoy!

2. One of the first things I noticed when looking at
the front cover on “Where I wanna be” is the
use of lighting. What I am pointing out is what
appears to be a cigarette which lights up a
certain part of the cover, particularly across
Donell Jones’ body. This could mean many
things, one being that he is now in a brighter
place. If you look at the full album cover, you
will see that on the left there is darkness and as
your eyes wander to the right you can see the
artist much clearer, showing that he is now
coming to where he wants to be, hence the
album title.

3. This is a similar part of the cover, but in this case,
rather than lighting being used it is clear to see
that elements of mise-en-scene are used in order
to get across a certain point. Here we see a hand
giving a light to Donell Jones and I immediately
thought that this signified that he created this
album with the intention of giving assistance and
aid to those who listen, similar to what the man
we cannot see is doing. I feel that Donell Jones
created “Where I wanna be” with the idea of
benefitting his audience. On top of this, two tracks
that are often overlooked on this great album,
“It’s alright” and “He won’t hurt you”, perhaps
show that he is trying to reassure his audience
and therefore trying to help them.

4. In this shot the use of a particular camera
angle is really obvious and it adds to the
quality of the CD cover. This is a medium
shot, and it allows those looking at the
cover to see the full body as well as the
dark light which I have previously
discussed.