Artist Profile

Imenz is the stage name used by the new up and coming artist George Foster. He is 15 years old and has been writing his own music, along with his friend of four years Andre Noel, for a year and a half and has finally released his new mix tape ‘Painted Over’. His music is a new take on the R’n’B genre as he does not have the common references to money, cars and fame but talks more about moral issues and achieving the best that you can in life. He aims to be a stable role model for the youth in a hope that they will choose the right path and he hopes to achieve this goal by passing on his message through his music. He was recently signed to a small record label called ‘Above’ (February 2011) but wishes to be signed with ‘Young Money’. George’s interest in music came about through listening to other artists and releasing they did not have a real message and wanted to hear something that had a meaning behind it. In the future George wishes to be as big as Drake and Eminem.

Do you prefer to be called by your real name or your stage name?
“Well Obviously I like people who are close to me to call me George otherwise I am used to answering to Imenz”

What inspired your stage name?
“Well I took the word immensesne and improvised with it”


How would you describe your music?
“I would say my music is one of a kind. It holds a real message behind it, I don’t talk about cars and money. I talk about real issues in life.”

What type of person is your music aimed at?
“My music could appeal to any type of person. Its aimed at anyone who wants to listen to the message I want to spread.”

Where do you gain most of your inspiration for your music?
“Life experiences, my mixtape is almost a diary haha”

Who are the artists that/What inspired your love of music?
“I listened to people like Drake and Eminem who had real meaning behind their music, I wanted to do the same. Also I wanted to share my experiences with the world.”

What is the inspiration behind the name of your mix tape?
Well I’ve made many mistakes in my past and music helped me paint over them and start again, that’s why its called ‘Painted Over’

How much time do you spend on working on your music?
“I’m always working on my music, if any thought that comes into my mind sounds good enough to go into one of my songs, I’ll write it down somewhere.”

What type of environment do you like to work in?
“I can work in any conditions. In a loud, busy room to a quiet, ideallic park.”

How does Andre contribute towards your writing style and sound?
“He helps refine the things I’ve written down thourghout the day. And if anything sounds better somewhere else he’ll rearrange it.”

Is there any other profession you would like/wanted to do?

“Well I love artwork, I would love to paint full time, but I’ve always wanted to do music.”

Where would you like to see yourself in ten years time?
“I would love to move to America…Oh and have a number one albulm.”

What advice would you give to yourself before you got signed?

“Don’t give up hope, you’ll get some where soon”

Reconnaissance

Helicopter pads are used as a form of showing success because if you are allowed at the top of the building you will either own it or be able to afford to use a helicopter as transportation. Success is the main focus in R'n'B lyrics and music. It can be seen as a metaphor; as if they are on top. It also places them in the city which emphasizes their urban edge.

The city at night shows the artist has an active nightlife. This could be seen as a sign of success as they are continuously being invited to different parties. It also implies that the artist’s music is influenced by an urban culture.  

A blank background allows all attention to be focused on the main image. It is also easier to edit as the background colour can be changed, objects can be inserted and shadows can be contrasted against the block background giving the main image a 3D look.

Costume Ideas

A black hoodie with a red logo is simple and doesn't draw too much attention away from the artist or masthead while allowing the artist to look relevant and on trend.

As I developed costume ideas I decided that a costume with more colour will suit my target audience better as it will attract them with the bright cheerful colours that make the magazine have a younger, fresher feel to it.

Costume Ideas

For the front cover of my magazine I would like the model to wear a purple hoodie. This will coordinate with the sell lines and masthead drawing more attention to them. The model will also be able to dress it up with a few iconography pieces, such as a watch or chain.

Costume Ideas

A typical look for R'n'B male artists is a simple black T-shirt. On many occasions they will have a slogan across the front. It will normally focus on their status as an artist, for example their name or something to do with money such as 'Get Rich'. They will also normally combine a simple T-shirt with silver or gold chains, sunglasses, watches, other Jewellery and hats or Bandana. All of these things are iconography for the R'n'B genre of music as they show off the artist success as they are able to afford to buy expensive things to wear. The simple black T-shirt contrasts with the extravagance  of the accessories draws more attention to them. 

Another common look for male R'n'B artist is the shirtless look. It is a well known symbol of masculinity and this is what many male artist brag about in their lyrics. It is also following the convention of 'sex sells' by playing on the sex appeal of the artists in the hope that the public will respond by buying whatever is being promoted because of the artist being shirtless and therefore 'sexy' and 'desirable'.

Mise En Scene

Double Page Spread Analysis

The article on the second page is arranged into three colums which follows music magazine conventions.

The article itself has a clear baseline giving it a neater look and making it easy and clear for the audience to read which will appeal to the audience. The text is in black also making it easy and clear for the audience to read as it is just plain and simple and nothing is costantly trying to grab the audience’s attention.

The pull quote is at the top left hand corner of the page, where the audience’s eye will be drawn to first, as people tend to read from left to right. The colour also stands out from the rest of the article as it is the brightest thing on the page including the pictures.

Drake’s sense of style appeals to the magazine’s target audience as it is modern and youthful. It represents the type of person that would read the article.

There are two images and there are one of each page which doesn’t follow magazine conventions as normally there is one main image on a double page spread and the article is spread out on the other page or around it. Also they both take up half the page making them a main feature of the article. This emphasises his status as an artist as he is able to have two images in one article whereas most artists have one.

The image on left hand side shows Drake in casual  attire and he is laughing. This gives the impression that he is not working but ‘hanging out’ which is a contrast to the black and white image on the other side, where he is working in a studio with a serious expression. Showing that Drake has two sides to him when he is working to when he is having fun.

The layout is simple which keeps the focus on the content of the article rather than distracting from it with bright colours or a variety of images placed around the article.

The image takes up a whole page and a part of the next page. It is dominating the whole spread showing how dominate the artist is. It also shows his status as he allowed to have a large photo whereas other artist that are not as established as him would not be able to. It is also almost as big as a poster showing that his fans admire him and would probably like to have a poster of him to put on their wall.

The graffiti in the background emphasises the urban culture he is surrounded by. It also looks similar to the tattoos on his arm suggesting that he is similar to the city and urban culture around him. He is not looking straight into the camera making him seem cool and detached from the audience, giving him a superior aura. The chains around his neck look as if they are weighing him down, emphasising their value showing the success of the artist.

The artist name is in the top left hand corner of the page which is a main focus point as an audience tends to read from left to right.

The first couple of words of the text are a lot bigger and a different colour than the rest of the text making them stand out a lot more and drawing the reader’s attention to the beginning of the text and making them want to see how the sentence will finish. It is like a teaser of the text.

The pull quote is in black at the bottom and in big bold letters. It draws your attention to it. The content of the quote makes the reader want to find out what else is said about the topic. It gives away enough information for the audience to become interested but not enough for them to be satisfied causing them to want to find out more by reading on.

The actual body of text is arranged in simple columns only breaking for new paragraphs so it does not draw attention away from the content of the text by using bright, bold colours and fonts.