CD cover analysis

The CD cover I am analysing is the debut album of English rapper, Tinie Tempah (real name Patrick Okogwu). The album was released in the UK on the 1st of October, 2010.


Firstly, the actual title of this album is Disc-Overy. This is a clever play on words as it can have different meanings. 'Disc' obviously literally means that the product is a disc, however by  calling it 'Disc-Overy' shows that because he is only just establishing himself as an artist he is still learning things about himself that he never knew before. It could also mean that the public who can buy the album can discover a new artist who is fresh and which they'd like to listen to. To me, as a potential consumer of this album, I believe it signifies that this album is not cliche, and just like other albums, that it is new and unique and he (the artist) is inviting me to discover something new.


The image used on the album is also interesting and tells us as the audience a lot about the artist. Firstly, their is an image of the artist with his sunglasses on. This is important as the artist is trying to establish this as a type of trade mark by wearing sunglasses in his music videos and in public appearances. for example:

By doing this he is following in the footsteps of many music artists such as Michael Jackson who was the subject of my star image analysis, with his white glove etc. The reason for him doing this is that he may want to promote his style to his audience, he may also want to appear fashionable to his target audience of young male and females who find his clothing sense 'in-trend'. This is very important as it can be argued that image is just as important as the actual music, this is because if the public does not think an artist is fashionable they most probably will not want to listen to his/hers music, especially if there an establishing artist. This is supported by the fact that record labels now control the way many artists dress and are seen by the public. So, by appearing in his debut album with his Ray-ban sunglasses on he is further establishing his image to his target audience.

Poster for album

The choice to use the artist as the central image is a sensible one as this is his first ever album, this means he still hasn't got a big reputation. Therefore he needs as much publicity as possible, and by using his own image means he will be gaining publicity. It is also good for the audience to know who exactly the album is associated with. 


Interestingly, the artist is seemingly got his arms around a capital city made up of landmarks like Big Ben in London and the Empire State building in New York. Again, this has many different possible connotations to it. 


Firstly, it may signify the artist's urban roots as he was born in London and has been quoted as saying, "London is one of the only places in the world where you can live in a council block and see a beautiful semi-detached house across the street. Growing up around that was inspirational, it kept me motivated." Therefore he could be trying to show through this image the landmarks and location that has inspired him.  Also this can be a sign of his style of music. Tinie Tempah is a rapper. This means his music has an urban appeal and will be aimed at people living in city's. So, he may be visually showing potential consumers the style of music he performs and where it originates and where it's aimed towards.


However, it could also signify the confidence he has, and how successful he believes he will be. You can say he looks like a Omniscient figure, standing over and cradling this city. So he may be implying that he will become extraordinarily popular with people in these citys, that he will metaphorically 'Own' them.


Lastly, the dominant colours used is also intriguing. The purple spotlight shining on the artist makes him stand out and look very dominant, especially as it is contrasts with the black background. Again, this emphasises the power he is portrayed as having with this album cover.


To conclude, the back of the album follows the same general pattern of the front cover of the album. By this I mean the dominant colours used are still purple and black. The spotlight this time is on the tittles of the songs included on the album. This is again to get the consumers attention on the songs on this album. It is important, I believe for the album artwork to be consistent, meaning the artwork and design are the same, or very similar on the front cover and back. You can see this as well through the font used, as the font on the front cover of the album showing the name of the artist and the tittle of the album is the same as the font used on the back of the album for the song names.


The reason this is important is because the image he is portraying has to make sense and he can not be ambiguous, meaning have separate style of art for the front cover and back.