This document provides an analysis of the digipak/album cover for Jessie J's debut album "Who You Are". It summarizes that the album cover portrays Jessie J as an empowered woman through her direct gaze and song titles about empowerment. The combination of white, black and gold colors on the cover help establish her identity as a newcomer to the hip hop genre while staying true to hip hop conventions. The back cover is kept simple with just song titles, distinguishing her from other hip hop artists. Overall, the album cover and track listing work together to tell the story of Jessie J and who she is as an artist.

1. Digipak/ Album Cover Analysis.
Hip-Hop Genre.

2. ‘Jessie J is a pseudonym of, at
least, two artists: 1. A singer
songwriter from the United
Kingdom 2. A rapper from the
United States – The Guardian ‘
Jessie J: ‘the fashion whirlwind Jessie J is
yet another popstar hooked on changing
her look. Far from keeping the public
interested, I'm bored with the wardrobe
carousel’
Jessie J has a direct connection
between her album cover and song
titles, with the idea that her front
cover gives off the implication of
her being an empowered women
and this having a direct connection
with some of her song titles from
“stand up” , “do it like a dude”, “I
need this” all have strong meanings
behind them just like her looking
straight on at the audience on the
front cover. The artist is seen
without any musical instruments
which allows the audience to come
to the assumption that the artist
relies on their voice alone to build
on who they are., which also has
significant meaning to her album
title ‘who you are’.
The direction of her eyes looking
straight onto the consumer is an
immediate technique to sell
herself, creating an immediate
relationship and to see what
type of people would be
attracted to the directness of the
album cover. The use of gold
lettering on the front cover in
many ways has a connection
with the hip hop artist that
Jessie J is. Hip Hop having the
characteristics of being bold and
having a relation to money and
jewelry relates exactly to the
front cover of her album. The
front cover is original and unique
but still implements and stays
with the conventions of hop-
hop. Therefore sticking to the
conventions of hip-hop
appealing to the audience of a
hip hop.The front cover entails a few contradictions of what it is trying to portray however this allows it
to have its own unique passage, breaking the mould of what could be traditionally seen as a hip
hop album cover . They are not obvious contradictions but the contrast of colours of white
being the background possibly attempting to convey her pureness and virginity as this is her
first album and her really stepping into the hip-hip world, but then having the influence of black
and gold also is Jessie J showing who she really is. The three colours do in many ways work
together to really identify who she is, a pure young artist steeping into the fierce hip-hop world
and with the use of all three colours they all help to create her personal route in the hip-hop
world.

3. When looking at the
back cover of the album,
Jessie J and her record
label have chosen to go
with a simple factor,
with just a plain white
background, again with
the pure reference and
then having the song
titles in a simple black
with casual font and
letting. Nothing on the
back cover implements it
being of a hip-hop genre,
which could be one of
Jessie J’s techniques that
she isn’t like every other
hip-hop artist, and even
though she is being
classified under this type
of music who she is
really matters – having a
direct affect with her
album cover name ‘Who
You Are’ and the final
song her album.
The order in which the
songs go in also seems to
have a direct action to who
she is and how powerful
she is trying to be. Through
actually listening to the
whole album, Jessie J has a
discrete technique of
placing her most powerful
songs and who she really is
in the middle of the album,
she has a build up before
she reaches the middle
part of the song list on her
album. She starts the
album track list quite basic
and simple, but then the
album jumps into an up
tempo passage when it hits
to track 6, this conveys
who she really is and the
meaning of each song gets
deeper after that, she
closes the album with a
ballad to smooth the album
over and slow it down but
the final song comes
together with the rest of
the album and has an
interlink with every other
song, that once again puts
together the puzzle pieces
of who she is as an artist.
BACK COVER.
Jessie J wrote every single song her album and having only one track having
a featuring artist on it, and it being the first track on the album, every single
song is a passage of being a build up on who she is and what she is trying to
represent herself as being, yes in many ways her songs are still hip-hop, but
she had full power in each song and this sets a new creation of what hip-hop
could be classed as breaking one of the biggest conventions of writing every
song on her album.

4. CD
The CD has a ‘simple girl factor’
to it and by that I mean you are
unaware to work out what type
of artist Jessie J is by the CD.
She has challenged the normal
conventions of a hip-hop CD by
once again stripping back from
what is expected of her and
having a clear and pure
approach. However the colour
of the lettering has a hint of hip-
hop in it being the colour silver
relating to the money aspect of
the hip-hop world. This is also
again a hidden strategy of the
record label and Jessie J for her
to possibly grab her real
audience before she breaks into
the hip-hop world.
BRITISH INVASION
This picture is placed on the inside of the album cover to show the real
Jessie J again and showing where she is coming from and who she is
really representing. This clouds around the idea of the British invasion of
urban music, even though she has been signed to a American Music
Label after 6 years of trying to break into the music world, she still has
her British roots which she believes curved her into who she is today.
The fact that the British flag and colours have been painted on her lips
has reference to her national identity and who she is always really
singing for and who has always supported her, and how even though she
is now a well known artist world wide she is always a British urban girl
who has just ripped and invaded into the hip-hop world. The fact that
the paint is still dripping from her lips gives us the assumption that she
isn’t stopping, and this is just the beginning of her helping the British
nation to really break into the hip-hop world, along side other British
artist too.
With little things like this Jessie
J is thanking her fan base for
helping her to become who she
is, as she believes without her
fans she would still be an
undercover artist, possibly even
still trying to break through into
the music world.

5. The Album emits an immediate affect of
being retro and this is due to the use of
colours that are used to give it this
impression. Everything is black and white
except from Chris Brown himself. This
draws all the attention to him and the
audience will forget about all of the
external features of what is going on in
the background. The colour of his outfit
can have a connotation of having a sense
of danger especially his red shirt. The fact
that his shirt is red can have so many
different meanings to it from danger to
passion and to even love. All of these
emotions could have a relevant
connections to some of his song or even
his lyrics.
FRONT COVER.
The front cover also conveys a
sophisticated atmosphere to it which
could be very appealing to his main
target audience being females. The
back and front covers are also
monochrome’s. the front cover is very
important as it is a chance for him to
show who he really is as a hip-hop
artist. He is standing on top of a
building almost as if he is looking down
on the people that admire him, but to
also possibly show the position in
which the hip-hop genre withhold in
the music world. Also for the fact that
he is standing on top of a building
could be him showing his position that
he can take on the world, but also
conveying that he is the high figure at
this moment in time when this album
came out.
With only him being on the front cover he wants to steal the audiences attention. Him
looking away from the camera in comparison to Jessie J who looked straight on
symbolises that he is unaware of what is going on, but also the fact that he hasn’t
realised what type of music icon he has now become. The layout of the front cover has
similar ideas to one of a film set, the title is the one thing that grabs your attention
when first looking at the front cover. It being in bold red and white stands out from
everything else. The importance of the red title and the red shirt could represent what
his music is really about, whether it’s the hot passion or love that his music inflicts. The
direction in which he looks in which is back could be symbolic to him looking back on his
past, but showing that this Is the real new him, and this new album helps to support and
create who he really is.

6. BACK COVER.
The fact that he is wearing
sunglasses on the back cover,
gives us the impression that he
is a mysterious artist and
doesn’t want to reveal all that
he is about to the audience
straight away. There is also a
short light that is used acting as
a way of reflecting off him,
drawing a spot light into his
attention making the main
focus being on him and nothing
else. The back and front cover
are also monochrome. The
front and back cover interlink
in construction of creating a
intersexuality of a James Bond
as he looks like a sort of high
class spy, which relates to
impression that he is coming
across with, and newly fresh
artist that wants to keep his
identity hidden until he wants
too.
The use of his outfit also helps to support the genre of which he is. The use
of his sunglasses and the Rolex watch that he is wearing comes across as
something which is inspirational for young boys as they nay want to aspire
to be like him – so he is being moulded into a young hip hop icon.
The back cover works in
collaboration with the front
cover in the whole simple
idea of wanting to promote
the real Chris Brown, or what
him and his record label
want to promote him as.
This album cover works to
promote the new him as if
he is a brand new artist that
has never been out before,
but really his record label has
created this album cover in a
way of Chris Brown showing
that he is letting going of his
past, and this is supported by
the two main positions that
he is placed in on the album
cover with him looking back
signifying him letting go. This
album is like his second
chance in the music business,
and at this part of his music
career this is his second
album as well.