DIGIPAK ANALYSIS: DRAKE ‘TAKE CARE’

By Mehbobur Rahman

BACKGROUND INFORMATION The Canadian Artist Graham Drake released his second successful album 'Take Care' with Young Money Entertainment and Cash Money Records.

It was released in November 15, 2011; in the first week, the album sold 631,000 copies. By 2013, the album sold 2,003,000 copies.

FRONT COVERThis particular shot is a mid-shot. Capturing the artist and his surroundings which is the main focus of the front cover. He is showing his success through the achievement within the music industry. It shows that he is living a luxurious life and from his achievements he has gained some power; this is shown through the clothing he is wearing which is black. The colour black connotes power and formality. Drake is the founder of OVO; this is why there is a golden owl which shows that his logo is significant and the owl or the group plays an important role within his music. OVO is Drake’s music group the ‘OVO’ looks like an owls face and this is why the animal is signified. In addition, the typography of the word ‘Take Care’ is flamboyant; it signifies the flamboyant life of Drake

FRONT COVER CONTINUED The group OVO is Drakes. However the artist collaborated his music with the artist The Weeknd; that is why ‘XO’ is added onto it to tell the audience that The Weeknd will play a significant role in the album as well as other rappers and singers. Together the artists make a great collaboration of RnB and HipHop. The logo can also be used as another marketing strategy which is to promote other rappers and to promote the clothing which create a buzz for the audience and create more sales when the album is released. The owl is an icon which every audience will notice when they look at a product and they may share it to attract more audiences.

BACK COVER The colour scheme is consistent all over the front and back; the typography is simple but also written in gold to reinforce the wealth and power of the artist. The back includes the company logos from Young Money Records to Cash Money Records. These associations specialise in two genres RnB and HipHop; Drake is an artist which specialises with the collaboration of both genres and he is very successful at it with this album

The whole album now costs £5.99; each song costs 0.99. When the first came out in 2011,vthe album was priced at £13.79 from places like amazon.

Company Logo Sound Track List

THE DISCThroughout, the disc is consistent with the background colour and the typography used. Everything is kept the same and there is differences between the album cover and the disc.

It also has the name of the artist and his album; the disc also includes the logos of the institutions which sponsor the album.

PICTURES INSIDE THE DIGIPAK

Drake smoking creates an ideology that working in the music industry is hard but with hard work come success; cigars are unusual to smoke unless your rich and powerful and Drake is showing that he is living that lifestyle. This perception of the artist engages the audiences by showing the success of the music industry, especially the Hip Hop/ RnB industry which started off in the ghettos(slums) and rough areas of America; HipHop artists aren't associated with sophistication but Drake’s appearence and ideology is also influenced by RnB.

INSIDE THE DIGIPAKThe typography is formal as this includes information of some of the songs included in the album as well as the people associated with the music; the other artists who featured in the music; the producers and directors of each song. The background is very sophisticated and really signifies the luxurious life of artists within the music industry. This section of the cover is healivy dedicated to those who play a big role in the album and those who contributed towrds his success.

PLENARYFrom analysing this digipak I have learnt that Drake shows a different side of the story; the perception of HipHop has changed over the years. Even though his success has come from his music, most artist started off poor and this is heavliy influenced from the genre and that is an important convention but it has been changed as he has collaborated two genres.

Although Drake used consistent colours and formal writing, I will use different colours and different font sizes and typography to make it stand out more.

In addition, I think that Drake’s digipak stands out from the rest of the genres; as a male artist he connects with his audience as well as his secondary. He is very successful with collaborating both HipHop and RnB into one creation; the lyrics of the rap and the lyrics from the singing all link in together and the audeince prefer his music as it relates to thier lifestyle or past experience: girl problems, trust issues or other problems that young adults or older audience would have experoenced.