Analysis of Album Cover

DMX - Year Of The Dog

The album came out in the early years of the 21st century where being a hardcore rapper was no longer a rare site. This album is full of hardcore rap which includes a lot of violent lyrics. By looking at the front cover the audience can immediately identify what the genre of the album is as all of the stereotypical hip-hop/Rap conventions are portrayed in this image. For example, the mis-en -scene of the album cover is very rough, urban and "ghetto". The rapper is placed in a dark, intimidating area which shows the audience that the rapper's music is of aggressive and violent content.

Also the clothes that the rapper is wearing adds to the idea that the album is rough and aggressive. The rapper (DMX) is wearing a black hooded jumper and an army style body-warmer. Wearing a black hooded jumper could imply that the album is about criminal based activities, This is because young criminals are usually known to wear black hoodies covering most of their face allowing them to be involved within criminal activities. Also by wearing a military coloured body-warmer suggests that DMX is a violent rapper as military colours represent war.

In addition to the clothing of the artist the uses of imagery is very effective. In the centre of the album cover an image of a muscular dog(pit-bull) with its mouth wide open looking vicious and dangerous. This shows a contrast between the rapper and the dog.

On the bottom right corner a parental advisory stamp is placed. 'Strong language, sexual + violent content. From reading this, the audience will know what the album vividly contains. Also by creating a white stamp helps the audience identify it easier as the colour contrast from the dark background image.