NEW YORK (AP) — Pharrell Williams Louis Vuitton Men's Creative Director to billion dollar brands like Dr. Dre beats headphones There are also retail giants like Diddy's Sean John and Jay-Z's Rocawear.
It didn't start like that.
The musical genre sprouted 50 years ago as an escape from the poverty and violence of New York City's most dire borough, the Bronx. In the Bronx, very few people were willing to invest in its businesses and people. Out of that adversity, an authentic style of expression blossomed, connecting with the city's underprivileged Black and Latinx teens and young adults, permeating graffiti, dance, and fashion.
As hip-hop spread throughout New York, so did the culture.
Hip-hop was born in the Bronx, rising from the ashes of a neighborhood plagued by poverty, urban decay, and gang violence. Fifty years later, the industry is a multibillion-dollar global industry, but the Bronx has yet to reap the benefits. (August 9) (AP Video/Noreen Nasir)
“Hip-hop is more than music,” says C. Keith Harrison, professor and founding director of the Business of Hip-Hop Innovation and Creative Industries Certificate Program at the University of Central Florida. “As Nipsey Hussle would say, hip-hop has always had to have an innovative business model because they always knew how to get it out of the trunk.”
With its spirit of innovation, hip-hop has overcome initial resistance from big companies trying to align with the genre and has become the most popular music form in the United States since 2017. Hip-hop's influence on his $16 billion music industry is now enormous. It's widespread, which experts say makes it difficult to quantify.
Author Zack O'Malley Greenberg is a hip-hop 5 richest artists In 2022, it was worth nearly $4 billion on its own.Jay-Z rapping on DJ Khaled's hit song from last year wasn't just an idle boast. “God did it.” “How many millionaires will be born from Hob's crib? Well, I counted three. Me, Ye, Lee, and Bron are all rock kids, so technically it's four.” Also known as Hob. Jay-Z, Rihanna and NBA star LeBron James are all included in Forbes magazine's 2023 list of the world's richest people, but Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, was removed from the list due to controversy. . Split with Adidas.
The reason hip-hop artists are so successful is because they're about so much more than music. They are tastemakers and trendsetters in lifestyle-defining products, from fashion to luxury champagne.
“Hip-hop knows how to put your butt in the seat no matter what the situation is, and that's what companies want,” said Harrison, who is also a professor in the DeVos Graduate Program in Sports Business Management at the University of Central Florida. he said. “Emotion, and a return to emotion, that's what hip-hop does differently. They have another level of emotion.”
Rappers often tell stories that their fans can relate to and aspire to, so weaving your brand's blurb into your rhymes and product placement (which can be paid or unpaid) can be a powerful marketing tool. It will be.
In her upcoming book, Fashion Killa: How Hip-Hop Revolutionized High Fashion, pop culture expert Soumya Krishnamurthy writes that “placing someone else's name or logo on the chest or back” refers to what people can get.
“How else can you prove that you are successful in America, a capitalist society?” Krishnamurthy said. “My little joke is that people can't see your mortgage. But they can see a nice chain. They can see the clothes you're wearing. You can. That's an immediate signal.”
In hip-hop, there's more pressure to fit in and show off.
“Historically, it’s a genre where a lot of people grew up with almost nothing,” Krishnamurthy said. “Desire is something you are born with.”
And perhaps no product has been more successfully associated with hip-hop than footwear. As a result, the rapper will have his own sneaker line without participating in the sport, said Harlan Friedman, host and creator of Sole Free, a podcast about sneakers and street culture.
“Seventh graders can't afford $20,000 rope chains or medallions, but they might be able to buy (Nike) Dunks or (Air) Jordans or Adidas,” Friedman said. “It gives him a little bit of clout, it gives him the impression that he's similar to his favorite artists and athletes, and it gives him a sense of, 'Oh, I'm just like them.'
Friedman said Adidas was the first major company to consider rappers as potential business partners. But they had to be convinced.
In 1986, the company saw an unusual spike in sales of its Superstar shoes in the Northeast, but it wasn't about to blame it on the rap group Run-DMC and their hit song “My Adidas.”
At a performance at Madison Square Garden, where the group encouraged fans to show off their Adidas and saw thousands of people take off their shoes and wave them in the air, company executives said their shoes sold. That's what it means. They signed him to a $1 million contract with Run-DMC, and his own shoe line was born in 1988.
Hip-hop has become such a pervasive and multi-billion dollar industry that it's easy to forget that its stars weren't always Courvoisier or Versace.
Even after Adidas' success, companies were still hesitant to partner with hip-hop artists. They felt that having young black and brown people wear their company's clothing was inconsistent with their brand and in many ways undermined their brand. '' said Krishnamurthy, whose book will be released on October 10.
“But when this much money was being spent and people really understood the power that rappers have to change what someone wears… they started paying attention,” she said.
Recently, singer and sometime rapper Rihanna signed a deal with Puma. Travis Scott carries a Nike line with a backwards Swoosh. And Cardi B has a Reebok line.
Companies of all kinds are now courting rappers and their audiences, hoping to join the ranks of Timberland, which initially resisted association with the genre because it believed it went against its working-class base, but Hennessy Cognac and Gucci are officially recognized hip-hop brands. .
“They're thinking, 'Either we can work with them and really embrace that culture, or we're going to miss out on being young and cool and, of course, making money.'” said Krishnamurthy.
As hip-hop culture moves toward the mainstream, few events compare to McDonald's introduction of Sawy Tea & Sour Sauce to the fast food giant's Chicken McNuggets in 2021. Packets of this sauce are currently available online for $20 each.
At the time, this California rapper was far from a household name. But Jennifer Heelan, vice president of brand, content and culture for McDonald's U.S., said Saweetie was a natural fit for the company's “Famous Orders” campaign, and that she and Scott, one of hip-hop's biggest celebrity couples, were a natural fit for the company's “Famous Orders” campaign. He said Cardi B is also appearing. with her husband Offset on her Valentine's Day.
“Saweetie is a long-time McDonald’s fan who put a unique spin on our campaign by combining her favorite menu items. It was a big deal,” Heelan said.
The promotion was aimed at McDonald's, which Heelan said inspired many people to try the Big Mac, and Sawee, who soon had his own Netflix show and appeared as a musical guest on “Saturday Night Live.” It worked out well for both Mr. Tee.
Jake Bjorseth, founder and CEO of trndsttrs, an advertising agency focused on connecting businesses with young audiences, told longtime client McDonald's that the jingle “Ba. He said he was asking him to produce an entire hip-hop album based on parts of “Da Ba Ba.” Ba. ”
Bjorseth said partnerships between brands and musicians will become even closer over the next decade, as audio is a more effective way to connect on social media. And hip-hop is more versatile in making those connections.
“Hip-hop is literally built on reusing and remixing previous genres of music,” he says. “…I feel personally connected to hip-hop. It's a seamless, authentic connection and the way we express ourselves.”
