Front of the cover
In class I had the opportunity to analyze one Digi-Pack of the famous Hip Hop artist Proof featuring Derty Harry. Here is what I found during my analysis:
The front cover denote a cartoon figure standing in an alley way, the cartoon effect has been used possibly to play on the idea of an alternate reality and also to put the audience at unease with the artist and his lifestyle. This delivers the message that all Hip Hop artist strive to meet which is that this mans life is like nothing you have seen before.
The color scheme used to illustrate the front side of the album are greens browns and blacks all colors associated with the lower end of town and the lower end of life. These images represent our artist therefore as being, a Man from the poor end of town who has risen from the dirt.
The blatant misspelling of words is a common thread amongst many Hip Hop artists, it is also a theme that features on the cover of this digi-pack. In the top part of the cover underneath proof's title, we see that he is performing alongside an artist named "Derty" Harry, by misspelling the name of a rogue cop, fighting justice against the rules of the law; the artist is able to not only borrow the rebellious image of the movie character but at the same time he can maintain the audiences familiarity with him due to his deliberate misspelling.
Content signs such as weapons and items of clothing will always trigger certain emotions with in the audience towards the artist. To the bottom of the first cover a knuckle duster can be seen to the bottom left of the picture. By using the artists name "Proof" to title the knuckle duster, an immediate link between the musician and the images of violence and anger are created.
A common unity in most Hip Hop videos is the use of the parental advisory sticker to signify the explicit nature of the album. This use of the sticker bigs up the ego of the artist as they create the idea that they are once again a figure who is not to be crossed.
The overall composition of the image is another interesting part of the image. With proof positioned to the left to make room for the words and having his body pointing towards them create the connection between him and his name.
