Jay-Z's last album, The Blueprint 3 was his eleventh and last in the Blueprint series. The album has a colour scheme of white and red, which makes it stand out from others. The front cover is a photo of painted instruments, not just modern ones such as the keyboard but older ones like gramophones. Jay-Z is a rapper, with hip hop influences but we can see in that the album has many influences, with keyboards and synthesisers and even jazz instruments like the saxophone. Intertextuality is key, as we are drawing from all genres of music. There are 3 red stripes on the front and back, branding the album which is key iconography. Anyone who knows Jay-Z will see the stripes and instantly think of this album. The core target audience for this album would be fans of hip hop and Jay-Z in general.
The instruments take up the majority of the cover, with the text providing as anchorage.
and
are in black text, with his name in bold as HE is what the fans are looking for. This album, was long awaited and like others, the artwork was realeased before the actual album, giving a chance for the audience, especially die hard fans to get to know the album, building up hype.
Jay'Z is a household name and all audiences will know who he is. He doesn't need his face on the cover or his name plastered all over it because fans will seek it out and most people will recognise it. His last two albums, Blueprint 1 and 2 fit the usual conventions of album covers, with the artist pictured and the name on the front, but this new ablum breaks convention, like he was doing at the time (e.g. appreaing at a festival like Glastonbury which created controversy.)
The back cover continues the colour scheme and features the red stripe logo, which is iconic for Jay-Z. The tracklist is featured so that people know which songs are on the album and who is featured. Artists such as Pharrel, Kid Cudi, Swizz Beatzz, Rihanna etc are all people that are recognisable within the R&B/hip hop genre, although Mr Hudson is more of an indie artist who frequently collaborates with rappers, showing that Jay-Z is expanding his genres like he has done previously with bands like Linkin Park.
The record companies involved in the album were Atlantic Records and Roc Nation, Jay-Z's own label. Both labels are indicators of the American music scene, although they are not purely hip hop or rap, as artists such as The Ting Tings, Mark Ronson and The Darkness are under these labels.
The record companies involved in the album were Atlantic Records and Roc Nation, Jay-Z's own label. Both labels are indicators of the American music scene, although they are not purely hip hop or rap, as artists such as The Ting Tings, Mark Ronson and The Darkness are under these labels.
Making the cover:
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