Album covers

Rihanna

The theme of Rihanna's songs are usually reflected on the way she portrays her album covers. This album is much different to her others as she portraying another side of her. This album presents a gothic side of her with the way she is dressed and the way the image is set out. The colour scheme is important because the black and white connotes danger and something quite mysterious about her. We know she is being mysterious as she has got her hand covering half her face. This can symbolise that there is more that is seemed. In terms of the album, we should expect the unexpected. This is true because this album has songs much different to songs she has produced before. They have got a different kind of edge of RnB, it can even be argued more of an rock pop edge, just like Rihanna is being presented in the front cover.
Paying attention to what Rihanna is wearing, we can see that it is voyeurism. This is because she is hardly wearing anything, which she is appealing to men and a particularly an older audience She is wearing all black which makes her mysterious. Black also symbolises death and danger.

The back cover is a different approach. She is still keeping the rock look as if you look closely she is holding a cigarette. She has also been dressed quite prerogatively. Rihanna is an icon figure so the way she is dressed appeals to young girls because most teenage girls our huge fans of Rihanna and do concider her as a role model. Keeping this in mind, she is appealing to a different audience. By adding the 'rock n roll' edge she is appealing to more of a specific audience. Dressed quite seductively also makes her appeal to men. Rihanna never sticks to one look. That is something many people can agree with. Rihanna likes to be different and try out new things. She knows many girls appeal to be like her so the one thing she wants to teach people is to be yourself and be different. This has come out in this album cover because it is not something you would expect to when we first saw Rihanna.

The colours she is dressed in is also interesting. White and black are complete contrast colours. White connotes innocence and black connotes danger. Mixing them together kind of portrays herself as being both. Almost as if good vs bad. Her hair also gives her more of an rock n roll look too.

It could also be argued that to some extent Rihanna's album cover has many similarities to Grace Jone's, 'slave to the rhythm'. Their style is much the same as they are both dressed top-less. Maybe even Rihanna based her look on Grace Jone's album. Their is voyeurism in both this album and Rihanna's. This could be because they are both dressed sexually appealing and a lot of sexual connotations to sell the artist. The proagative nature of them would appeal to a certain type of audience, which would be an older range of males.
In the top right corner, there is a large 'R'. It could be argued that it is a sort of self harm image, because the R is being scratched in the background. It is a new kind of image for her and she needs to potray it in every little aspect even by the first initial of her name. Her first initial of her name represents her and outlines who she is. It is also important to concider that she does not have her full name on her album, just her first initial. This may be because her new image links to this one single letter. She wants this letter to represent her at the time, as her other albums she does not just have the letter R. Not displaying the artists name goes against usual album conventions. Typical an image of the artist is desplayed along with the artists name. Rihanna's album goes against this and just has her initial.

I also managed to find the disk cover. I thought it was important to include the dick cover because the colour sceme of the whole album continous with the disk cover. The whole rock n roll theme is portrayed by the dark but meaningful colours. Their quit meaningful colours because they kind of say a lot about the image she is portraying. From her previous albums this is completely different because she is not being potrayed of someone of innocence but the complete opposite. For this album, she has a complete different rough edge look that makes this album completely different to previous ones. The white text on the black background is important because it makes it stand out so much more. The black contrasts with the white because they are two completely different colours. It brings in ideas of innocence versus experience because the colour white is associated with innocence while black represents something dangerous and sinister. It also has copyright, and the record companies logo. It also has the letter R again which matches the front cover.

Chris Brown

This is the front and back cover of one of chris brown’s album. The way the colours are set out are interesting. Everything is black and white except for Chris, which makes the album cover retro. This makes Chris Brown stand out and draws all attention on him. The colour of his red shirt connotes danger, blood, passion, desire and even love. The fact that he is wearing a black suit makes it seem that his gone for the dangerous side. It can also be argued however that he looks very sophisticated and appealing to girls. The sunglasses in the back cover makes him seem more mysterious, as if he’s hiding. There is also a sort of light reflecting on him. This can be said that it may be a spot light, drawing all attention to him. The back and front covers are also monochrome’s.

In the back cover he is bent down doing up his shirt. It is intertextuality of James Bond as he looks like a sort of high class spy. He is also wearing shades and a rolex watch which is aspirational for young boys as they may want to aspire to be like him.
The front cover is important because Chris Brown is standing on the top of the building, almost as if he is looking down. This can be as if he can take on the world. Looking down shows he is the high figure at the moment. He is the important character that wants to steal your attention.
him not looking at the camera kind of symbolises that he is unaware of what is going on. The layout of it looks like a film set.
The main thing that grabs our attention when first looking at this front cover is the title. It is in bold red and white that stands out from everything else. The importance of the red title and the red shirt could kind of match the person’s title to the person. Looking back at his name also promoting himself. Almost as if, if we did not know who this singer was, we should now, as this cover is linking the title to the person. He is also looking back. This may be symbolic because he may be looking back at the past. He is putting the past behind him and has a new start with this new album.

Usher

This image centralise the artist. The main focus is usher and all eyes are on his eyes. His eyes stand out the most as there is something that makes them look very vulnerable. His black costume portrays him as a very hidden mysterious character. It may reflect his album. This is his new album and has a different sort of style to his previous. His songs featured are much mellow and soft, just like how he is being portrayed in this image. He looks relaxed and just comfortable. There is no focus anywhere else. We know this because we cannot see the background and cannot work what the background is. The name of the artist stands out as it is a silver colour on a black setting.
He is also showing a bit of jewlerry. This is stereotypical of RnB and even male hip hop artists. It defines their identity.

The lighting is also very cold. The cold tone links to how serious the album must be.



This image is important because he is sitting in what it sees to be a church. This is significant because it signifies religious connotations. There is also a light coming from behind him. The religious connotations suggest his image as a sort of saint. His hands spread out also links to Jesus. This all related to religious connotations. His shirt unbuttoned makes him more casual and laid back. His facial expressions put him in a dominant position. He looks uptight and fierce.
His black shirt and white t-shirt is important because he is showing that even though he can be very mysterious and maybe even dangerous, under all that he is innocent. It can also be a sort of innocence against experience, or innocence hidden under experience.
Having the setting of the church must have obviously been done purposely. This may be because maybe the church means of an importance to him. It may be a place close to his heart.
The way he is sitting is quit casual and laid back. You do not typically sit like that in a church so it is significant that he has in this sense. This may be because he is being controversial and maybe feels relaxed in this place.

Keri Hilson

The first thing that attracted my attention was the bright writing across the front. The way it had been layout looks like when you go theatre and see titles for big movies big and bright. I think it has been done in this way for the purpose of making Keri look important. She wants her album to stand out, so making her name big and in bright lights does the exact thing.
It is also interesting how Keri is positioned. Royalty usually sit on big chairs, or it can even be argued that male gangsters sit on big chairs. The fact that Keri is sitting on this chair has made her seem important. It gives her authority, power, and has taken over the typical male role. It shows how she is strong and dominant, and that all eyes are on her.

Her leaopord print tights also symbolises her as a predator. She is in-charge and in-control.
The colours are important because when studying some albums, the backgrounds are usually black and white while the main singers are colourful. In this case another approach has been taken. Keri has been greyscale while the background has been photo shot in nylon colours. The background is also important because it can either be a sun set or sun rise. If it is a sun rise, it can be argued that a star is rising, which it is Keri Hilson. The colours are loud, confident and colours of the sky.
Her hair revealing half of her shows that she may be a mystery. This is keri’s first album that made her. She was not famous before it. The songs featuring on her album is what made her career. The image relates to this because she is showing she can be a good mystery. Her hair covering her eyes also shows that she has attitude, she's cool and she's got 'swagger'. Not looking at the audience but looking somewhere else is important because she is trying to show that she is looking at something we cannot see.
Her hands up in that position are the kind of attitude that she owns the world. Metaphorically it is symbolising that she is going to take over the world, as if artists need to make room for the next best thing.


This is a scan of the inside cover. Yellow can be said that it symbolizes something peaceful and reminds me of the season spring. The season bring is about new beginnings and new starts. Maybe this album is a new start for Keri. She has only featured on different artists and now this is her first album on her own.
On these pages, she has who features with her and who’s produced what and who has helped her with what. The image of her sitting in the chair is much different to the previous one as she is sitting more sophisticated and elegant. In her shoots she never directly looks at the camera. I think this is interesting because it is as if she does not want to be noticed. Looking straight at the camera is for when u pose, in this cover, she is acting casual. A plain background draws more attention to Keri. It makes her look like the star and that all eyes are on her. The way her hands are positioned in the second image presents her very casual. Her body language is casual, however her facial expressions makes her seem as if she is looking up thinking.

The back cover is a different approach as in costume. It is very proactively and very appealing to the male gender. The jewellery presents her as a woman gangster. The black costume connotes danger and darkness. The leather portrays her as a superhero, as tight leather is usually worn by characterized superheros. The stars around her may symbolize that she is the main star being born. Her facial expression also looks quite dominative, strong and fierce.
Underneath her crop top, she is wearing a gold bra. The colour gold is very rich and connotes wealth. She is portraying an independent image of women being wealthy.
This image is voyaristic as she is taking off her shirt exposing her breasts. She looks aspirationally attractive to females and sexually attractive to males. Her jewlerry coming down her breasts really emphasise the voyarism. The glitter in the background also emphasises the voyarism.

Jay Sean

This image is important because it is as if Jay Sean is blocking the rest of the world. The way people have been blurred as if to him, the people around him are invisible. He looks quite scared and vulnerable too. The way he is looking at the ground as if he wants to be un-noticed. What he is wearing is not anything special, which makes him blend in his surroundings and setting. However, he has his leg up which makes his character seem more ‘cool’ and casual, especially with his hands in his pocket. His blue hoody associates him with his vulnerability. Blue is a neutral, pure colour. The title of his album and his name is surprisingly small. It does not really catch your eye and is plain. The white title also links to his innocence.



The inside covers were very interesting. There was no writing just shots of him. This one i thought stood out for me more because they have enlarged him in the middle then put him smaller on either side. The worn out building makes him stand out more. His red jumper foreshadows danger or maybe passion. I think it is interesting how it is layout. The long strip of him positioned in different angles and in different costume, but yet the same setting makes him stand out more. The writing inside is not usually read, but the images may make a more impact if you are a fan as there is a whole cover of images of him.

In contrast to other albums I have studied, this is very bland. There are no images of him just the track list and a plain background. It does not really appeal to people because even the background colours is very plain. However to some, maybe people like plain and simple, rather then too much focus and emphasise on the artist. For an RnB album though, this is surprising. Albums usually reflect on their characters. So if he trying to portray that he is a much hidden mysterious artist, but to know more about him we should buy and listen to his album?

Neyo




These are the images of two of Ne-yo's latest album, front and back. Just like his previous album, he is dressed in a suit. His suit is very smart and sophisticated. This has been done deliberate to make him look appealing to women. The images on the album are the characters and scenes from two of his music videos. Ne-Yo is also being presented a mysterious super hero, as he looks like he is about to fly from the building.The back album cover is different to most as typically track listings go down the page. However this album cover has made the image big and put track listings across the bottom.
The actors and actresses in the background are all dressed as they are superhero's. This links to the theme the album is set out.
Standing on the top of the building connotes that he can take over the world. It also links to his superhero characters.
His hand raised up as if powers are coming out. This is also links to his superhero status. The women in the background also has bright eyes which links to the superhero theme.
The first thing that grabs our attention is the big eye cathcing title. It is bold and bright to make the title stand out but most importantly for his name to stand out.