Task 8

Focus Group Transcript

The point of this task was to get a more detailed responses compared to the
previous questionnaire. The difference with the focus group is that I can get
more personal views of what the people from the target audience have. By using
less people I can get more concentrated results which will allow me to have a
more definitive approach to how I will create the magazine in order it to be
suitable and represent both the genre and target audience of hip/hop music.
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Mansur R (18) British-Asian, Middle Class

Virgil S (16) British-Afro/Caribbean, Middle Class
Stefan A (17) British-Afro/Caribbean, Middle Class
Hassan P (17) British-Asian, Middle Class

Question 1
What props would you expect in a hip/hop cover/double page spread?
[Mansur R]: Depends where the pictures are taken, to be honest, generally
youd just see the Rapper wearing street wear clothing mainly black and
probably some kind of drugs.
[Stefan A]: Id agree you know most likely the guys wearing a hoody.
[Virgil S]: Maybe guns if theyre a gangster rapper
[Hassan P]: Yeah most gangster rappers have some kind of weapon whether
it be a knife, baseball bat or like you said a gun
Question 2
What do you think has allowed rap to have much more commercial success (in
the charts) than ever before?
[Hassan P]: I think well all agree itd definitely be the Internet, sites like
YouTube and that have allowed any old guy to come along a have a one hit
wonder Chief Keef is a pure example his music sucks but look at him now..
[Mansur R]: Its either that or radio but I guess the internet has made a bigger
impact to allow rappers to get onto the radio.
Question 3
What connotations do you think the name of Cult has?
[Stefan A]: It sounds quite dark and mysterious since thats what Cults are like
in the real world, but you know its quite refreshing since it captures what the
Rap music state is like currently like you know you got guys like Eminem & Kanye
saying their Gods now
[Hassan P]: Thats so true all the kids these days try follow em like there are
actually idols think about it if it wasnt Kanye wearing ripped skinny jeans you
probably wouldnt see sooo many people wearing skinny jeans.
[Virgil S]: Yeah its quite a progression from how Hip-Hop has evolved its gone
away from the traditional expectations like names such as Vibe & XXL which
as 16 year old could be considered as old fashioned hip-hop.
Question 4
What type of language would you expect in the contents page in a hip/hop
magazine?
[Stefan A]: Since its a British hip/hop magazine you definitely have to keep the
slang authentic and not use American stuff like dude and that.

Task 8
[Mansur R]: Defo has to be in your face and loud even if that means swearing
[Hassan P]: My guess is that it needs to be very direct like Mansur said
something in your face just like the rap music is
[Virgil S]: You dont want that sophisticated tone people should be able to tell
its a hip/hop magazine just be the words chosen.
Question 5
Why do you think hip/hop is a more masculine genre?
[Mansur R]: It definitely, if you think about it these so called female-rappers
are just capitalising off a rap sound on typically pop music. Take Nicki-Minaj
would you consider Super-Bass a rap song?
[Stefan A]: Yeah man I dont get it, I guess the music industry is a business but
seriously Iggy Azzelea and they are just delusional if they think rap music should
sound like this.
[Virgil S]: No doubt, rap is masculine Im not against actual female rappers
[Hassan P]: I think raps a masculine genre because its aimed a more male
based audience like the drug dealers, like the Pimps and whatever

Evaluation
The responses convey the genre accurately for example when I had asked
whether rap music was a masculine genre they all answered that the industry is
filled will males and the female rappers are more like pop artists and imitating
the rap image. This also has the representational issue of how females can be
free like how males are can rap about anything but females are limited to giving
a pop sound. This would also impact the final product as I will take males on the
front cover and double page spread as it would follow how the genre is
dominated by males and females do not have popularity except outside the popmainstream.
I have also learnt from the focus group that the rap genre has limited them into
separate aesthetics for example how gangster rap is prominent in violence as in
my 1st question the responses included that they would expect gangster rappers
are known to have guns. This creates the issue that the target audience will be
seen as endorses of the violence and thus seen as thugs, just because they enjoy
the stories portrayed in the lyrics/music.
Finally, I have grasped from the focus group that informal language is expected
as it would create direct address to the audience. This is because slang terms
would be acceptable since the target audience would use this language.
Whereas, if I use more complex language it would not suit the nature of the
genre since rap music have allowed slang to be popular due to the catchiness of
the music. This also creates the issue of people stereotyping rap music of
dumbing down the youth as they begin to use slang terms in everyday
situations for example in school whilst interacting with teachers who would have
no idea what the person is talking about.