The title of the magazine, Rolling Stone, is in a serif font, in red and has a black outline/shadow, bringing the image of the title to life. The Rolling Stone logo is one that is world-renowned and distinctly recognisable. The use of red suggests, much-like NME, that the magazine has many different connotations. The red could suggest the love and passion for music of the magazine yet it could suggest the magazine is dangerous and/or edgy.
The image of Rick Ross dominates the cover of the magazine, so much so he covers the title/name of the magazine. It is almost like he is pushing the sides of the magazine out, forcing more space with his arms. He is almost holding the title up with his little fingers, emphasizing strength and power. You could even argue he is making an ironic attempt at tensing his muscles, which you cannot actually see for his fat. He is topless and this shows his rebellion and care-free attitude. He has many, many tattoos, again reinforcing the bad-boy image he holds. Around his stomach/belly button area has a skull tattoo which is looking directly at the audience, possibly initiating a slight fear in the reader. This relates to the coverline of "Global Melting", which underneath says "Scary News". His jeans are worn extremely low and show the majority of his undergarments. This is representative of his gangster image and the origins of wearing jeans so low comes from American prisons, which relates to his time spent as a prison guard. His underwear is white and pristine, demonstrating he has a wealthy lifestyle and wears fresh clothes. The white fits with the white background and adds to the sharp clean cover's feel. The excessive jewellery on his wrists and around his neck show his incredible wealth. This is further demonstrated by the fact he wears two watches, one on each wrist. The yellow buckle on his belt follows the theme along with the other yellow words on the cover, "Rick Ross" and "Global Melting". The "Global Melting" cover line could perhaps relate to Rick Ross' large, rotund, world-like body and the fact it is shiny, sweaty, melting? The other cover line says "The Pot Princess" which relates to Rick Ross' highly publicized drug lifestyle, represented by one of the chains around his neck. It could also be interpreted as a reference to Ross' 'pot belly'.
The main story or cover line names Rick Ross as a "Gangster of Love" which could be interpreted in two ways. One way could be that he isn't looked upon as a loveable character and you could assume he isn't particularly desirable to women. The other interpretation is that Rick Ross is full of love, which is not too far from the truth when you understand that he has looked after many of his friends from his earlier, 'darker' days and helped keep them out of trouble. He has also put together a powerful, wealthy music team named 'Maybach Music Group' which shows us he wants to share his success and is far from greedy and selfish as many people in his position would be. He has taken chances on up and coming rappers such as Meek Mill and helped give them a career in rap that they otherwise would not have had. You could also look in to the fact he has worked with many, many other artists across the industry, and therefore he is the "Gangster of Love".
The menu strip at the top helps to hook the reader as it names the edition as "Fall Music Special", with the use of the buzz word 'special' significant in attracting the reader. The use of naming other artists in the menu strip also helps in bringing the buyer in and showing there is something for everyone.
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