• The colour scheme consists of red, white and black. They are very rich colours that are used together to make them clash and stand out. White is a pure, clean colour that indicates perfection; whilst red is a rich colour that may be used by the upper class to show their status and superiority. E.g. The roman soldiers had red capes to show their superiority towards the other citizens. black is a very dark colour and stands out. This links with the artists within the music genre. The white shows the artists perfection as the males and women presented in these magazines are all good looking and have great bodies. The red shows their wealth as most enjoy the luxuries in life. (SouljaBoy posing with expensive jewellery) and the black is a dark rebellious colour that shows the men in the music genre. The men are intimidating and are normally associated with illegal activities.

• The language is very informal and the text is big and bold to show the nature of hip hop/rap music which would definitely appeal to the type of reader that would pick up this magazine. The main sell line is big and bold to catch the attention of the reader. It informs the reader of who the artists are and emphasises the words ‘50 Cent and Soulja Boy’ with a red line underneath ‘Boy’ which links with the masthead. The sell line: ‘A haters worst nightmare’ is a hyperbole because it exaggerates the situation of what they're saying. The sell line emphasises the success of the two artists on the front cover and although it tells the reader that they are going to ‘hate’ them, you still want to read to find out why.

• Although the front cover is quite bare of sell lines in order to focus on the main image, in the top right corner there is a plus sign listing other artists that are going to be featured in the magazine.

• They are looking at the reader creating a direct mode of address. This shows confidence and instantly creates a connection with the reader. The costume choice is very street casual as hip hop artists prefer to dress up but be creative with their outfits, and most importantly show off their expensive jewellery. Dark colours are normally the necessity for most occasions so therefore the blue jeans and vest tops fit their genre. They are all pulling faces to show the audience of their superiority and that the world should fear them. The technical code is a low angled shot to show a slight upward view towards the two models. This makes the duo seem dominating which goes with the anchorage text ‘a haters worst nightmare’. There is an indirect mode of address as the pictures are all taken on a white background so the mis en scene is positive. The colour white in the background is once again showing the artists off to be perfect. Both males are covered in tattoo’s wearing dark clothes. This links with the genre and target audience as it shows what hip hop music looks like to be played live and the audience would be interested as all the best music is played live.

• The contents page follows the magazine conventions as it consists of the same three colours that are so commonly used in the hi h genre. Red, white and black feature again on this page. Its a simple layout and the font stays the same throughout the page. Its not crowded like other genre magazines such as Kerrang! or NME would be. The content is located on the left which is common in most magazines and is far better than having writing all over the place also giving he magazine some order so its easier to read. Can draw more buyers by it being a @50 Cent and SouljaBoy special’. There is less important information at the bottom of the page, it also written like a content page. A large picture featuring the two artists, the main article in this edition of XXL magazine. Largest picture on the page, so all the attention is on them.

• The colour scheme consists of Black, Red and White. The same colours that have been used by other hip hop magazine company XXL. They are very dark colours and are used well within each other to clash and make the magazine stand out. This links to the target audience as dark colours are a representation of the hip hop genre. The layout is very informal but clean to show the nature of the hip hop genre. The model (T.I.) is wearing a tuxedo which would normally be seen as formal, but the fact that he has left his bowtie and top buttons undone show the rebellious lifestyle of that the artists prefer to live and that the fans like to follow. The strapline goes with the theme of the magazine due to the red, black and white colours.

• The strapline includes ‘New Orleans Reality Check’ that switches the audience’s attention away from the music and the major events happening in the country. Also the strapline reads ‘T.I. has the last laugh’ which again attracts the target audience as it matches the models facial expression. T.I is smiling mischievously at the readership, making them wonder why he has the last laugh. The model is wearing white which makes him look bright and angel-like. White is the colour of perfection and with T.I. being a rich, successful and handsome young male, he manages to be the perfect man. Many would desire to be just like him and his music may inspire many listeners to be just like him. This particular magazine would catch the attention of men rather than women as it also has a sports section. There’s a small puff on the bottom right hand side that says ‘Barry Bonds and why you hate baseball’. Stereotypically more men would be interested in reading articles like these, excluding women from buying this issue of Vibe due to most of the articles being of only male interests.

• Both front covers have less information and images on the front cover, that’s probably due to the music genre. Those that listen to the hip hop genre are stereotypically labelled as lazy people. They prefer to watch rather than read and images would be more effective to the readership than words. Therefore Vibe and XXL have chosen to only have one main image on what the magazine is going to be about, have a couple of puffs and a main headline along with some simple sell lines.

• Large V to indicate that the “V” in Vibe magazine is important. The magazines logo also includes the issue of the magazine underneath. The title ‘Contents’ has been placed in a different approach to other magazines. This makes the title contrast with the dark red background. The background colour is a dark red to red gradient. This makes the hip hop artist stand out even more. It also makes the spot light on him, showing he’s the main focus on the contents page. Topless rapper to show body tattoos. This suggests that tattoos are a strong part of the hip hop stereotype. The artist is holding a mask to possibly suggest that he is wanting to gain a unique image that he isn't afraid to mask from the public. Subheadings located in capitals to made it easier for the reader to find what they are looking for. The title features is a curved fancy text. This looks like a classical text for a hip hop magazine due to its originality

• On this magazine the target audience has a lot more to look at compared to XXL and Vibe magazine. XXL and Vibe had a small number of conventions that the audience would normally see on a magazine whereas Hip Hop Connection has conventions and information on what’s going to be on the magazine bursting out on the front cover. Once again we are greeted within the same three colours that were shown on XXL and Vibe magazine. Red, White and Black being the main colours to appear on the front cover with red being the colour of blood and royalty, white being the colour of perfection and black being the colour of darkness. In this issue, Hip Hop Connection have focused on the story of 50 Cent, and how he’s a hip hop icon. Hip Hop Connection has followed the one image convention that most hip hop magazines seem to share. The one image is large enough to grab the attention of the readership and isn't too much to look at.

• ’50 Cent – Hip Hop Icon’ stands out as it’s in a big font coloured white on a red background. Once again the white, red and black colours are being used on this front cover but unlike the Vibe and XXL covers, Hip Hop Connection have decided to swap the colours around, and instead of a white background, 50 Cent sits on a red background. This could be because of 50 Cents success in the music industry, the issue could be focusing on that and his rise from the poor to the rich; instead of using him as eye candy like Vibe magazine may of done with their image on T.I.. It fits in with the general theme of the magazine as it is in loud colours to reflect the loud music played in the hip hop genre as well as the energy used when performing. The title is black, bold and messy to again reflect the genre of music. The title being in capitals further enhances this as it creates a loud appearance. Covering the title is rapper 50 Cent which is moving on to what else is in the masthead. The model covers the title making it almost unreadable showing the magazine is all about the music as opposed to being all about the magazine company. This would attract people to the magazine more because it implies that throughout the magazine the music will come first.

• The artist who is featured is someone who is extremely well known in the music industry, the clothes are quite extravagant and wild suggesting that although she is a hip hop artist, she doesn't fit in with the stereotype. She is someone that cares about their appearance and wants to express their uniqueness. The title of the article shows the artists supremacy to other ordinary citizens. The title is quite blasphemous as it shows ‘The Gospel according to Nicki Minaj’. This separates her from everyone else as it makes her look like a God. This links back to the three colours that is so oftenly shown in hip hop magazines. The black, red and white colours that represent the music genre. The white symbolises perfection, and with the title of this article being the gospel, it portrays Nicki Minaj to be the perfect person. The title and colour scheme is something that fits well with the red. The red is used o highlight the key parts of the double page spread such as the name of the artist ‘Nicki Minaj’ and the writers name. There is a large ‘W’ at the beginning of the article. This highlights the start of the article.

• This set up of this double spread is not one that is commonly used in a hip hop music magazine as it features a female artist. With the target audience and readership consisting of teenage to young adult males, its quite unusual to see a magazine dedicate a double page spread on a female artist. Both pages are used up well and the artist takes up most of he room. The magazine uses mode of address on the double page spread so the reader can feel engaged to reading the article.

• The picture takes centre stage and covers most parts of the pages. The audience can see the artist fully, his whole face and body and can see who and what type of person that this artist actually is. The artist who is the main feature is someone who isn't well known, his double page spread could be used as a promotional tool to help get this artist of his feet. On one pull quote, the artist mentions 50 Cent, who is an extremely well know artist within the music genre. His pull quote could be used as a way o show that the two artists are associated, catching the attention of 50 cent fans, allowing them to pay close attention to the artist that the double page spread is about.

• This double page spread is very good because the writing is big and not bold, it stands out from the rest of the page and has a pull quote at the bottom of the page that would be used to catch the attention of the target audience. There is no heading on this page, mainly because its he continuity of he previous double page spread that is linked to this one.