Gigantic multi-national corporations have been the direct beneficiaries of hip hop music's message of spending money. These companies have raked in billions in sales that relate directly to the placement of their goods and services in hip hop songs.Here is a partial list of some of the products that have been mentioned in rap songs
Bentley English manufacturer of luxury automobiles
Cristal champagne
Courvoisier cognac
Hennessy Cognac
Rémy Martin cognac (The rapper Remy Ma was known as Remy Martin until the company reportedly asked her to stop using the name)
Moët & Chandon champagne
Alizé Cognac based spirit
Hpnotiq liqueur/ vodka/ cognac
Adidas German sports apparel manufacturer
Cadillac brand of luxury vehicles owned by General Motors
Free Advertising Works
Although other genres of music occasionally mention commercial products, no other genre makes the placement of products in lyrics apart of the accepted landscape of the music.
It's amazing the amount of free advertising that these products have received. When Busta Rhymes (Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr) released the song Pass The Courvoisier, sales of Courvoisier cognac rose by 30%.
I imagine that other rap songs have had a similar effect on other products.
The sad part of this is that the people who are responsible for the sales increases of these products are likely the people who can least afford the products.
Backlash
Also most of the rappers who include products in the lyrics of their songs are not even savvy enough to have gotten paid. Even the rapper known as Jay - Z (Shawn Carter) who mentions Cristal champagne in at least one of his songs, was not paid. In fact it was Cristal that complained that their product being placed in rap songs hurt the brand.
" We can’t forbid people from buying it,” told Rouzaud. “I’m sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business.” - Cristal’s managing director, Frederic Rouzaud in The Economist magazine
So the message being sent is to be a zombie consumer and to pledge your allegiance to multi-national conglomerates which have no respect for you or your money.
Big Business Hits The Charts
"According to AmericanBrandstand.com, Cristal was the eighth most mentioned brand on Billboard’s Top 100 chart in 2005.
It scored 35 mentions, from stars including Kanye West, Trina, Lloyd Banks, The Game and Mariah Carey.
In his number one hit Hard Knock Life, Jay-Z raps, “Let’s sip the Cris and get pissy-pissy“." - BREAKINGNEWS.IE ARCHIVES: 16 June 2006
I wonder how many billions of dollars have been funneled into the pockets of huge corporations. And I wonder how many poor and near poor people have mortgaged their financial well-being for a bottle of Cristal.
What Do You Think?
Do you think a generation of African Americans have been destroyed financially by hip hop's message of "making it rain"?
Have you known people who were influenced by hip hop's message of blind consumerism?
RUN-DMC - My Adidas
