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TOP PROHIPHOP POSTS

Step Up 2 The Streets Soundtrack

Boost Mobile Anthem 2.0 Commercial

We Made It: Busta Rhymes & Linkin Park

Fergie to Star in Candie's Only at Kohl's Campaign

The Game Plays Playboy Photographer

Flavor Flav in New Dr. Pepper Commercial

Atmosphere's When Life Gives You Lemons

Smirnoff Sponsors 80s Launch For Parish Clothing

Plies: Definition of Real = Certified Goon?

Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III Cover Art

No Matter What: T.I. Releases Single


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« March 30, 2008 - April 5, 2008 | Main | April 13, 2008 - April 19, 2008 »

April 11, 2008

Atmosphere's When Life Gives You Lemons Packaging Demo

Atmosphere's When Life Gives You Lemons Packaging Demo

Nice demo of the unique packaging for Atmosphere's When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Sh*t Gold due April 22nd from Rhymesayers.

Limited deluxe edition:

"(25,000), packaged as a 40-page gold embossed hard cover book featuring an illustrated children's story written by Slug. Bonus DVD with over an hour of live footage and extras."

Oddly enough, the video repeats itself before ending.  But it's great till then!

Eminem & Mandela: I'm Sorry, What?

Yeah, Eminem has grown up a bit and has taken some liberal stands here and there but performing for Nelson Mandela's birthday concert?

Is Slim Shady invited too?

[Note to self: drop Slim Shady Vs. T.I.P. mixtape featuring samples from Nelson Mandela speeches!  Do it now!!!]

Top YouTube Searches: Sex & Lil Wayne

NewTeeVee takes a quick look at the Top 10 YouTube Search Terms for March as judged by Compete.com and finds it dominated by sex and hip hop.

Big winners:
Lil Wayne, Low, Chris Brown, Soulja Boy

April 10, 2008

Dodge Chrysler Jeep Presents 97.9 Car Show & Concert

4th Annual 97.9 The Beat Custom Car Show & Concert poster

4th Annual 97.9 The Beat Custom Car Show & Concert

Press Release:
DODGE CHRYSLER JEEP PRESENTS THE 97.9 THE BEAT 4TH ANNUAL CUSTOM CAR SHOW AND CONCERT STARRING LUDACRIS, BUN B, ROCKO, PLIES, FLO-RIDA, RAY J AND MORE

Jagermeister Sponsors Born For Battle Tour

Press Release:
Big B & Dirtball Team Up For Jagermeister Born For Battle Tour Featuring Potluck & DGAF

Singles: Lil Wayne's Lollipop #4, Tops Hot Rap Songs

Lil Wayne's Lollipop featuring Static Major is making some noise on the Hot 100 singles chart and elsewhere:

"Lil Wayne's 'Lollipop' rises 7-4 and is the fastest growing digital track on the Hot 100. 'Lollipop' also zooms 7-1 on Hot Rap Songs, the largest position leap and quickest move to No. 1 on the tally since it moved to an audience-based metric in 1999."

Top 10 Singles on the Hot 100:

1. Mariah Carey - Touch My Body
2. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
3. Madonna - 4 Minutes feat. Justin Timberlake
4. Lil Wayne - Lollipop feat. Static Major
5. Usher - Love in This Club feat. Young Jeezy
6. Ray J & Yung Berg - Sexy Can I
7. Jordin Sparks - No Air feat. Chris Brown
8. Chris Brown - With You
9. Sara Bareilles - Love Song
10. Flo Rida - Low feat. T-Pain

RushmoreDrive Launches: Search, News & Jobs Portal for Black Community

Check it out:
RushmoreDrive

Press Release:
First-of-its-kind Search Engine to Deliver more Relevant Search
Results to the Black Community launches April 10

Launch Party:
Rushmore Drive Launches

Jermaine Dupri to Helm TAG Records, Artists to Get Body Spray Size Marketing Support

Island Def Jam Music Group and Procter & Gamble announced today the creation of TAG Records, a new hip hop label to be helmed by Jermaine Dupri, President.

For those that have missed out, TAG is the body spray for sweaty young men with fantasies of getting some.

Sounds like a great combination since so many hip hop fans are sweaty young men.

The distinguishing point for TAG Records, other than the close corporate tie to P&G's TAG body sprays, is the pledge to support signees with a "multi-million dollar marketing effort that is unprecedented for any new artist, including television, print, radio, digital and event marketing."

And that is the strength of such a tie cause the multi-million part is really about promoting TAG body spray since nobody in their right mind would otherwise spend "ten times the typical marketing support" on a new artist.

On the one hand, this is a great opportunity for an up-and-comer to receive an outsized marketing effort on their debut.

On the other, this is an opportunity to be branded by TAG at a key moment in one's career, a branding that may well stick with one long after the fact.

What the right hand giveth...

Also from the press release:

"In addition to an album release, the TAG Brand will showcase TAG Record's artist and Jermaine Dupri across various TAG brand advertising and marketing initiatives throughout 2008."

"The TAG and Island Def Jam Music Group partnership was forged and managed by New York - based ACME Brand Content Company, TAG's branded entertainment agency of record."

Official Sites:
TAG Records
ACME Brand Content Co.

April 09, 2008

Pauly Shore's Hip Hop Marketing Strategy

Pauly Shore on Racial Politics in the World of Comedy

Folks weren't sure how to take Pauly Shore's race talk in the above video, especially in the wake of Geraldine Ferraro, but he broke down the hip hop marketing angle for AllHipHop.

The short and popular video was basically a promo for Pauly's Natural Born Komics Sketch Comedy Movie: Miami that includes appearances by Vivica A. Fox, Charlie Murphy and T-Pain, at least one of whom, Charlie Murphy, he insults in the video.

Pauly told AllHipHop regarding the short video:

"I wanted to create a response, and these days for people to buy things you gotta create some type of awareness. Everyone in my movie - you've got Vivica [Fox], T-Pain, Charlie [Murphy] - I had to get to the Hip-Hop community because they're all fans of those people. Hip-Hop people aren't my fans. I get approached all the time on the street from Black people that love me, they give me hugs and I've been in the game for a long time. But as far as them purchasing a Pauly Shore DVD, it's not gonna happen."

Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III cd

Pauly Shore's Natural Born Komics Sketch Comedy Movie: Miami

Pauly says the idea came from Shawn Prez of Element Nine:

"The funny thing behind this [Black comedian rant video] is, I didn't even come up with this whole thing. It came from a place called Element Nine which is a Hip-Hop marketing company."

Shawn Prez suggested the tried and true tactic of marketing by creating beef:

"'You know rappers go after each other to sell DVDs or CDs, why don't you go after Black comedians?' He says, 'Why don't you rap?' I said, 'I don't f**king rap', and he says, 'Well let's do a video.' It wasn't even my idea. So he's the mastermind behind this whole thing."

I'm not the biggest fan of Pauly Shore but big ups to Pauly for not rapping!

Kenny Segal Wins Best New Composer at First Boards

Kenny Segal, producer of Ken Can Cook, was named Best New Composer at the Ninth Annual First Boards Awards in New York on April 3rd:

"Segal, a 28-year old University of Southern California music school graduate, has been writing tracks at Elias Arts' West Coast studio as a full time composer since 2006. With a specialty in hip hop/electronic and experimental music, Kenny has collaborated with Jonathan Elias on high profile and award winning advertising work for the likes of Nike, Nissan, Dodge, Best Buy and Valspar."

"He co-wrote the 2008 Super Bowl spot for Hyundai "Big Twist" and composed the track for the 2007 nationwide "Rollin VIP" spot featuring K-fed and cited by Advertising Age as one of the most talked about Super Bowl ads of all time. Kenny is the talent behind the theme song for "How To Look Good Naked" which has aired on Lifetime TV over the past year, and most recently launched Ken Can Cook on indie label Decon/Project Blowed featuring underground legends such as Abstract Rude, Aceyalone, Nocando, Busdriver, 2Mex and more. He is currently touring North America and Europe to promote this new solo album."

Official Sites:
Ninth Annual First Boards Awards
EliasArts
MySpace: Ken Can Cook

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Kevin Federline Super Bowl Commercial for Nationwide

Pete Rock @ Guitar Center w/Just Blaze, 9th Wonder, DJ Nu-Mark & DJ Revolution

The Guitar Center in Hollywood, CA has announced a superproducer session with Pete Rock and special guests Just Blaze, 9th Wonder, DJ Nu-Mark and DJ Revolution on Sunday, April 20th.

Pete Rock will also give a private tutorial that will be videotaped for the Guitar Center website.

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Guitar Center: Limited Edition Roland RZA/Forat Custom MV8800
Chuck D @ Guitar Center Sessions, Compares Russell Simmons to a Buzzard

More Hip Hop DJ/Producer Coverage at DJs/Producers II

Hip hop dj and producer coverage continues in our DJs/Producers II category.

Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III Cover Art

Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III cd

Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III

The Lil Wayne poster has been taken down and the above graphic featuring Lil Dwayne Carter has replaced it as Tha Carter III's cover art at Amazon.com and at Wikipedia.

Due June 10th from Cash Money Records.

Via Miss Info.

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Lil Wayne on Tha Carter III: The Leak

Albums: Trina's Still Da Baddest Debuts at #6

Trina's Still Da Baddest debuts at no. 6 as Rick Ross' Trilla drops to no. 9 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Trina got the no. 6 spot off sales of 47,000 though her no. 11 debut with Glamorest Life sold 77,000.  Of course, higher album rankings off lower sales is a current theme of the music industry.

Top 10 Albums on the Billboard 200:

1. George Strait - Troubadour
2. R.E.M. - Accelerate
3. Now That's What I Call Music 27
4. Day26 - Day26
5. Soundtrack - Alvin and the Chipmunks
6. Trina - Still Da Baddest
7. Danity Kane - Welcome to the Dollhouse
8. Counting Crows - Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings
9. Rick Ross - Trilla
10. Van Morrison - Keep It Simple

Iron Man Featuring Audi R8: Technology That Amazes

Iron Man and Audi R8 Ad/Trailer

Iron Man isn't really a hip hop movie per se but it does include an appearance by Ghostface, plus, Iron Man's cool!

Audi hopes to absorb some of that coolness with a campaign built around Audi's placements in Iron Man.

Audi's publicists break down the deep connections:

"In the film, Tony Stark begins to secretly build the incredible Iron Man suit in his garage workshop...the billionaire technophile has his Audi R8 parked nearby which fits Stark's Super Hero guise very well: The slits through which Iron Man views the world resemble the all-LED headlamps on the R8; Stark's artificial heart with its ring of lights recalls the sports car's exposed mid-engine and his immensely tough armor is matched by the Audi Space Frame, the high-strength aluminum structure on which this hi-tech automobile is built. The film's hero along with his favored mode of transport both underscore Audi's famous technical leadership claim: 'Vorsprung durch Technik.'"

The Audi: Iron Man microsite builds on this relationship in a number of ways, most noticeably in the short videos that include Iron Man trailers such as the above that have been out at least a month or so.  The microsite has a number of interesting elements:

"A notable feature of the visual elements is that they were produced especially for Audi and are made up of original scenes from the film. "One Man. One Machine. One Mission." is the slogan alongside the micro-site. On its complex home page the user can pay a virtual visit to Tony Stark's top-secret workshop. Two perspectives are available: Through the eyes of Tony Stark, exclusive footage and background information on the movie can be called up and viewed. Alternatively the special "Iron Man Vision" HUD (Head Up Display) can be used, for instance to explore the design details of the Audi R8 and A5."

If you hate product placement then welcome to integration hell!

From what I've seen Audi's actually done a nice job of tying the two together and developing a microsite that builds on that concept in an entertaining manner.  And the trailers really make the point quite clearly.

Too bad Audi dropped its previous Technology That Amazes slogan for its current Advancement Through Technology.  That would have fit Iron Man very well.

It would be nice to see some t-shirts with the old Audi slogan tied in to the movie in a way that ackowledges the retro nature of the Iron Man comic itself.

Though the focus is on the Audi R8 driven by lead character Tony Starks aka Iron Man, Virginia "Pepper" Potts, the lead female character, drives an Audi S5.

Iron Man opens May 2nd.

ProHipHop Remains in Light Mode

Still taking care of some things that are clearly impacting ProHipHop though they mostly have to do with  non-ProHipHop issues.  Will try to drop a bunch of links as soon as possible during the interim.

Update:
Did more today than expected, nevertheless, this post holds true for the near term.

April 08, 2008

Snoop Dogg & JibJab Offer Sensual Seduction Roles

Snoop Dogg and JibJab announced your chance to be in the Sensual Seduction video!

It's like magic!!  Your head will replace Snoop Dogg's or something!!!

Here's the official microsite.

Note the approach to monetization:
Free to create
$3 to share

According to the press release the "video is free to make at JibJab.com with a $3 service charge to store, share and post the video to blogs and social networks."

April 07, 2008

Tyga: No Introduction Album Cover Art

Tyga - No Introduction cd

Tyga - No Introduction

Tyga's debut album No Introduction is due June 10th from Decaydance/Young Money Ent.

Here's more on Tyga's backstory, the album and his current tour with Gym Class Heroes.

Here's Lynne d's cosign plus a sneak peek video for Tyga's single Coconut Juice.

Tyga at MySpace

50 Cent Says Young Buck Out of G-Unit

Apparently 50 Cent went on Hot 97 to say Young Buck's out of the G-Unit crew but still on the label.

Miss Info has more commentary & stuff.

Audio of 50 Cent's call via Nah Right.

The Source, XXL & Vibe Ad Revenues Up

Target Market News compares the March '08 and March '07 ad revenues for the leading black magazines and shows The Source on the comeback trail up 87.8%, XXL up 35.8% and Vibe up 19% on much higher revenues than XXL or The Source.

Via Hashim Warren.

Def Jam in UK Mobile Deal w/Sony Ericsson

Def Jam Recordings is providing content and celebrity appeal for a limited edition handset from Sony Ericsson to be offered through The Carphone Warehouse in the UK:

"As part of the deal, which is understood to be a first in the UK, Sony Ericsson will be preloading handsets with audio and video content from the record label’s artists, which incude Mariah Carey, Rihanna and Nas."

"The limited edition white and gold W910i Walkman handset and matching MPS 75 speakers in black and gold will be available exclusively from The Carphone Warehouse in the UK from 8 April."

Official Sites:
Def Jam Recordings
The Carphone Warehouse
Sony Ericsson

Global Habbo Youth Survey: US Kids Like Hip Hop!

Brandweek reports on a survey of teens [11-18] conducted by teen oriented virtual world Habbo that I assume is the Global Habbo Youth Survey.  However they are focusing on only the figures for U.S. teenagers which find that rap/hip hop is the favorite music genre of U.S. teens surveyed [brief reference near the end of the article].

Though the press release for the Global Habbo Youth Survey doesn't mention hip hop, it does have more about the larger research report including what Habbo's researchers claim to have identified as "five clearly defined behavioral segments amongst respondents".

This is the second such survey by Habbo parent company Sulake who conducted the first survey in fall 2006.

From Sulake's Blog:
Habbo’s Second Global Youth Survey reveals shake up in teens' favourite mobile brands

Under One Roof: Trailer for Flavor Flav Sitcom

Under One Roof Trailer

At Wooohah!:
Flavor Flav to star in new sitcom "Under One Roof"

Trailer via Different Kitchen.

April 06, 2008

Hip Hop Album Releases for Apr. 8: Big Gemini, Big Unk, Duke Da God, The Grouch, Living Legends, LMNO & Kev Brown, Truth Universal

The Grouch - Show You The World cd

The Grouch - Show You The World

To receive this report separately each week, please visit Weekly Hip Hop Albums and sign up for our free weekly newsletter delivered every Monday with Tuesday's releases.

The following new releases are available from Amazon.

Big Gemini - History In The Making
Big Unk - Tolerated But Hated
Duke Da God Presents - Harlem Classics
The Grouch - Show You The World
Living Legends - The Gathering
LMNO & Kev Brown - Selective Hearing
Motive - Mo-llinium: The Takeover Begins
Tha Trademarc - Inferiority Complex
Truth Universal - Self Determination

For a database of upcoming and past releases with updates,
please see Hip Hop Albums @ netweed.

Hypebot: MySpace Music Winners & Losers, U2 & Live Nation, Rock Band Music Sales, Universal Investing, 20 Million Song iPod?

Music industry news from Hypebot:

Hypebot named 5 Winners and 5 Losers as MySpace announced a new music store with three of the four major labels as partners.

iTunes claims to have passed WalMart to become the #1 music retailer in the US.

WalMart.com has stopped selling SonyBMG and WMG downloads.

U2 cut a major deal with with concert giant Live Nation, but stopped short of the $150 million 360 deal Jay-Z is reportedly working on with the concert giant.

EMI has grabbed a senior exec from Google to head its digital efforts.

eMusic has added the Rolling Stones catalog from ABKCO.

Music sales via video game Rock Band come close to the early days of iTunes.

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton is boycotting SonyBMG.  Who cares?

UNIVERSAL INVESTING: The company is investing in digital distributor INgrooves and will start using some of its software.  And Universal's Intersope joined a $25 million funding found for music social networker BuzzNet.

Losses at The Orchard jumped even as revenues doubled. Next week, Hypebot will take an in depth look at the problems shaking up the digital distribution sector.

Napster had stronger earnings last quarter.

A 20 million song iPod may be in your future.

Universal also announced a new line of greener packaging for some of its re-releases.

JOB CHANGES: Ian Rogers has left his gig as head of Yahoo Music for start up TopSpin and Ricall, an online music licensing marketplace, appointed former Sony ATV exec Ben Walter as head of Business Development.

See ProHipHop's Hypebot Industry News category for past roundups.

Singles: Lil Wayne's Lollipop #7, Flo Rida's Low #10

Mariah takes the top spot on the Hot 100 singles chart but Lil Wayne's Lollipop featuring Static Major rises to no. 7 while being the fastest growing track at radio.

Top 10 Singles on the Hot 100:

1. Mariah Carey - Touch My Body
2. Usher - Love in This Club feat. Young Jeezy
3. Madonna - 4 Minutes feat. Justin Timberlake
4. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
5. Jordin Sparks - No Air feat. Chris Brown
6. Ray J & Yung Berg - Sexy Can I
7. Lil Wayne f/Static Major - Lollipop
8. Chris Brown - With You
9. Sara Bareilles - Love Song
10. Flo Rida - Low feat. T-Pain

New debuts this week include Nelly's Party People featuring Fergie at no. 54 and Plies' Bust It Baby (Part 2) featuring Ne-Yo at no. 55.

Benzino Claims 50 Cent Wanted to Collab!!!

Benzino spoke with SOHH in regards to 50 Cent's statements on MTV about a photoshopped image that looked like a Hip Hop Weekly cover and dissed Fat Joe.  His approach seemed to be more about damage control until he spun this great yarn:

"I saw him in Puerto Rico," Zino recalled. "I guess that was the time he just signed with Eminem. [50] came over and gave me a hug and said 'what up.' We started talking about doing a track together through Sha Money. [But] once the Eminem thing took place, all of that fell apart."

That's too bad.  Benzino would be king by now if not for Eminem!

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