Specific Album Art Analysis #5

Jay-Z - American Gangster

I have chosen to analyse this artist, because I did not mention any of the Rap/Hip-Hop genre that is being really famous in United States. Jay-Z is very successful artist and I think that his album artwork has a lot of symbolism included in it. The first thing we realise after looking in the centre is the artist who is wearing a suit. He has that "Man in Black" look and walk. This is made on purpose to show the kind of person the rapper is and to show his character in depth. In the front of him as well as at the back there is a lot of smoke which creates an image of him being a supernatural person/angel that has come from the above to save the world. People might feel that when they gonna start listen to lyrics they are going to feel like all the problems are gone and world is just a perfect place. Another thing that might be very important is the simplicity of the colours used. The only colour you can visually see are: black and white. This might be done this way to show the simplicity of the album and the songs that they are on the album. You can hear sometimes people saying that :"This is so easy, like black and white". So this is maybe where the idea came from. The last point that I have links to the title of the album and the surrounding of the artist in the background. You can see that the title is "American Gangster" and every chair and the tables in the back look like they have been cleaned up by someone which may signify that the American Gangster that the artist represent may be sorting things out wherever he is. Also the cover links a bit to American Western Movies when we look closely on the floor and the style of the chairs.