SC: Eminem Album Cover

Product Analysis
Eminem: The Eminem Show

Eminem is an American rap/hip-hop artist renowned for being the first white rapper to be a success. He plays on this view that white men cannot rap on a number of his album covers.

This album cover uses mise-en-scene, colour, lettering and the camera shot to represent both the album and the artist himself. The first impression we, as the audience to the cover, get from looking at the album cover is that Eminem is putting on a show, but when looking at it a little deeper we see that he is presenting himself as a one-off, unique rapper, playing on a “freak-show” theme and promoting himself as one of very few successful white artist in rap culture.

The immediate impression one gets from first looking at this cover is one of royalty and of a show being put on; this is emphasised through mise-en-scene by the use of the microphone, and it being lit up by the stage light – it also plays on the actual title of the album. The red and gold colours represent power, success and a royal status, however, looking closer, this is not here to represent the artist himself. Eminem is seen in the background of the image, behind the curtains and in the darkness, in complete contrast with the colours ahead of him. This is what creates the “freak show” theme, with the red and gold representing the dominance of power that the black community has in rap culture, and Eminem being shown behind them in their shadow. Through this, Eminem is shown to be separate from the collective identity of common rap culture.

The spotlight around the microphone presents Eminem’s love for singing, and the spotlight represents his focus on music as part of his culture and identity, again though, Eminem himself seems to be looking at the ground, shying away from the scene ahead of him. This again represents him as a “freak”.

Overall, through this album cover Eminem converges a number of aspects to create a synergy that represents his struggle to be part of the collective identity of the rap culture due to the colour of his skin. The royal themed “show” in front of him is where Eminem longs to be, part of the collective identity of rap artists; instead he is represented as a “freak” in the shadow of this show, emphasised by the contrast between the gold and red ahead of him, and the surrounding darkness around him.