ProHipHop

The Flash Mob And Machine Gun Kelly

Words by: M Dee Dubroff

Experimenting with social media can be like playing with matches. For Cleveland-born rapper, Machine Gun Kelly, activity on his Twitter account has led to his arrest for organizing a flash mob. The event took place in Strongsville, Ohio at the suburban Southpark Center Mall, which is located some 20 miles from Cleveland.

It is illegal in Cleveland to promote flash mobs using social media. For the hundreds of fans who attended the event on Saturday, August 20th, as did Machine Gun Kelly, this fact was of no significance. The rapper was arrested for the charge of disorderly conduct after he refused to get down from a food court table.

The 21-year-old rapper, whose real name is Richard C. Baker, said of his arrest posted defiantly on Facebook:

“If havin’ fun with my fans and bringing the rage back to my hometown means I have to be arrested…then keep pullin’ the cuffs out.”

This self-destructive move has not hurt his career one little bit. In fact, it has enhanced it, as Kelly has just signed a deal with Bad Boy Entertainment, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ company.

Bad boy he is, but fans love the energetic rapper whose namesake was the moniker of a fearsome gangster from the Prohibition Era.

Go figure.

The Game Gets Interactive

The Game believes in his fans and their ability to contribute to the world of hip-hop in a profound way. That’s why he’s decided to let them. He has an album scheduled to be released in late August; but before he puts it to bed and gets to work on the promotional tour, he’s reaching out to his fans to create a verse for a track called R.E.D Nation. He’s letting fans pen 16 bars and the fan who manages to make the best verse will get it included on the track and their name will be, at the very least, a footnote in the history of hip-hop.

This move by The Game is a bold one, but it’s not uncommon these days. The world of hip-hop, just like movies and sports, is realizing it needs to have more person-to-person interaction with the fans. Plenty of artists have taken to making themselves Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. Many of them have YouTube channels or they are simply being more interactive with their website. What this is intended to do is create a buzz about where they are at and what they are up to.

What this is doing for the fans is giving them added interaction with their stars. Many fans take great pride in having one of their heroes respond to a tweet of theirs or a chance to spend any amount of time talking to them.

The Game is doing something that is truly unique, but it might be the start of something that become commonplace. More and more we will see artists reach out for collaboration with their fans. The idea that someone could be a fan one day, and on a track the next is sure to create a buzz.

Palladium Boots: Exploration #6 – London Pirate Radio



Exploration #6 – London Pirate Radio

Palladium Boots is posting a lot of cool content on its site. I would love to know how this is working for them as a marketing move but, for the moment, I’m just digging the above update on London’s pirate radio movement, one of Palladium Boots’ Explorations.

They’ve also got an interesting looking blog.

They caught my attention anyway!

Famous Stars & Straps: LA Stickerbombing 2009



LA Stickerbombing 2009

The LA lads from Famous Stars & Straps show off their promo techniques.

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
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Armored Promo: Mr. Cartoon Customizes Armored Truck



Custom Armored Truck By Mister Cartoon

Take a look at the process of Mr. Cartoon and friends painting an armored truck as a promo for Armored, the movie, opening December 4th.

This man has a very solid brand.

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
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Greedy Genius: Sneaker Bombing



GREEDY GENIU$ Chicago $ecret Sneaker Bombing

I assume Greedy Geniu$ is promoting their sneakers but can people on the ground identify the brand or is this supposed to just be a fun video promotion?

Check these Stars & Straps street team videos for an example of doing both at the same time.

Exploiting Chaos: Trend Hunter Book Promotes w/ Ashton vs Kanye High Five Battle



EXPLOITING CHAOS – Ashton vs Kanye High Five Battle

A bit of public fun to support the launch of Exploiting Chaos: 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change by Jeremy Gutsche. There's also a Twitter component asking folks who they'd highfive.

Note: I briefly posted at Trend Hunter until I realized they were taking and republishing people's photographs in a manner that felt to me like a ripoff. But, unlike Kanye West's early blog, I think they were linking out and that's cool but the content issues are why I haven't mentioned the book before and why I won't be involved with or supportive of the site in the future.

Pac Div: Church League Champions Mixtape & Game


Kottonmouth Kings: Green Album album cover art

Pac Div – Church League Champions Online Game

Pac Div supports the release of their mixtape, Church League Champions with an online basketball game in which you can play as a member of the band.

Unconvinced? Check out the trailer for the mixtape.

Audio 2 DJ Promoted with Parkour Specialist



Parkour Generations: Audio 2 DJ

From YouTube:

"Renowned traceur Stephane Vigroux demonstrates the portability of the new Audio 2 DJ interface by free-running through London. A film by Julie Angel."

Official Sites:
Audio 2 DJ
Native Instruments

Over at Hip Hop Press:
Native Instruments Announces AUDIO 2 DJ

Diddy Seeks Marketing Suggestions for Last Train To Paris



Diddy Blog #42: THE TRAIN IS COMING!!!!!

Given the hypeman title of this Diddy vlog, I would have expected a bit more hubris but it's actually a fairly human request for suggestions for marketing Diddy's upcoming album, Last Train To Paris, delivered in a rare thoughtful tone. Not to say that Diddy isn't full of thoughts, he just doesn't usually show this side of himself in pubic.

Plus, I dig the meta quality of this promo video that features marketing by requesting help with marketing.

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
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Diddy: Last Train To Paris Free iPhone App