ProHipHop: Hip Hop Marketing & Business News

Zoo York Roach Dept. Guru Challenge

Roach Marketing w/Zoo York Cult Members

Zoo York, apparently a Manhattan based cult of PETA renegades, is utilizing roach marketing to spread the word.

They want you to join their movement and upload your own zany videos.

On the real, though I can't really advocate dumping roaches on people, I think the above video does capture a certain realness and subcultural attitude that's quite appealing.  And, unlike the Cool Kids, it's bringing '88 back for me!

Though I haven't been keeping up with the art scene as closely as I'd like, I think it's a trip that two of my favorite works of art from the 21st Century have come from marketing efforts, this roach event and the Attack of the Lite-Brites.

Official Site:
Zoo York

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."

The Formula & The In Crowd Get Maxim-style P/Reviews

Maxim-style P/Review of 9th Wonder & Buckshot's The Formula

Duck Down Records has a fun response to Maxim's p/review shadiness with Maxim style reviews of 9th Wonder and Buckshot's The Formula, due April 29th, and Kidz In The Hall's The In Crowd, due May 13th.

Here's the p/review of The In Crowd.

Smif N Wessun Digital Lyric Album for The Album

Smif N Wessun Digital Lyric Album

The above digital lyric album features the lyrics for Smif N Wessun's recently released The Album.  If you click through you'll be taken to a digital document that allows you to "turn" the pages and looks quite nice.

Ian really likes the digital lyric album as a marketing tool.

Over at VidRap:
Smif N Wessun f/Rock & Joell Ortiz - Stomp
Smif N Wessun f/Chuckii Star - Gotta Say It

Cam'ron Found! Big Foot Spotted!! MTV Has Footage!!!

Surprise Cam'ron Spotting!!!

The question "Where's Waldo Cam'ron?" has been on everyone's mind for oh so long and now MTV has found him lurking in the above video clip hand-delivered by "Cam's camp".

Oh thank goodness.  Hit 'em with your glazed icy stare!

Hip Hop Needs You!!!

Famous Stars and Straps Street Team in Action

FSAS Team Spreads the F in the NYC

Travis Barker has been getting lots of hip hop attention for his unique rap remixes, savage one-arm techniques and ongoing work with DJ AM so I thought his Famous Stars and Straps street team deserved a look as well.

The best part is at the end.

Flinging the Badge of Honor

Official Sites:
Famous Stars and Straps
FamousSASFamily @ YouTube

Patches the Coolest Horse Promotes Hip Hop

Patches the Coolest Horse

So, ProHipHop readers, is Patches doing it for you?

Wait, I'm getting a strong sense-memory of the None Shall Pass Promo!

Lee Resnick's Urban Barbershop DVD Network

Lee Resnick was recently profiled on SOHH's Player Watch with a special focus on his Urban Barbershop DVD network:

With mixtapes becoming a less reliable tool, Lee conceived a line of DVD's created specifically for barbershop audiences.

"There were a lot of great videos that you would never see, so I created this network of barbershops, 350 barbershops in 36 states... I do monthly compilations hosted by artists, send them to my barbershops and they play them. They reach 360,000 viewers a month and I gather feedback that goes back to the labels," Resnick explained.

Hosted by celebs including Dipset capo Jim Jones and Jets running back Thomas Jones, Resnick's DVDs often introduce newer artists to audiences outside their region for the first time.

Kwik-E-Mart Promotion Cooler Than Simpsons Movie

The Kwik-E-Mart promotion with 7-Eleven has got to be the coolest promotion I've seen in quite a while. Much cooler than the idea of a Simpsons movie at this point in time.

U-N-I Taste Tests Fried Chicken and Watermelon

U-N-I Taste Test for Fried Chicken and Watermelon

U-N-I does a fun promo event in the streets of LA repping their album Fried Chicken and Watermelon by giving out fried chicken and watermelon while folks listen to their music.

Fried Chicken and Watermelon is described as a "street album" on their MySpace page and it's supposed to drop on June 2nd but I can't see where to order it.

However, Thurzday of U-N-I has posted the album at Okayplayer.

Last, but not least, here's the video for their single K.R.E.A.M..

Promo Vids/Contest for Upcoming Swizz Beats Album

Swizz Beats Promo 1

In preparation for the June 5th release of Swizz Beats' album One Man Band Man, Universal/Motown had Liquid Entertainment create these fun parody ads based on HP's campaign that included Jay-Z and Pharrell.

Swizz Beats Promo 2

At some previous point in time there was also a contest to win a Spring Break trip but that appears to be over as it redirects to swizzbeatsonline.com.

I should also point out that the videos are labeled "It's Me b*tches" and the contest redirected from itsmeb*tches.com.  I haven't quite sorted out the play of names and singles between It's Me Snitches and It's Me b*tches but I have to wonder, with Swizz Beats' site featuring only It's Me Snitches, if there's going to be any retreat from the B-word by large labels in the light of current dialogue and pr appearances.

I'm assuming this was just a way to create a radio friendly version that replaced b*tches with snitches but I haven't been keeping up.  In any case, post-Dave Chappelle, b*tch sounds tired as a general form of address.  It's Me Snitches just sounds fresher somehow.

Via Different Kitchen.

Video:
Swizz Beats - It's Me Snitches

Rapping Squirrel Promotes Lake District w/Wordsworth

Yes, a giant rapping squirrrel [that looks kind of like a donkey] named MC Nuts is the star of a video in which he raps Wordsworth's I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud to promote the Lake District that inspired the poem.

Hey, didn't De La Soul cover that?

Here's the video on the official Cumbria Tourism site. He looks a bit more like a deer in the video but it's more interesting than I expected.

Promo Video for Definitive Swim & El-P's Flyentology

Promo for Definitive Swim and Flyentology

Here's a nicely done Old Spice sponsored promo for Definitive Swim and El-P's Flyentology featuring Trent Reznor.  I appreciate the "just the facts, ma'am" delivery and the simple but enjoyably effective animation.

Previous Coverage:
Definitive Swim: [adult swim]'s Free Definitive Jux Sampler

Definitive Swim: [adult swim]'s Free Definitive Jux Sampler

Definitive Swim

Another cool promotion via the Cartoon Networks' [adult swim], this time for a free Definitive Jux sampler with optional cover art shown above.

The promo is billed as a collaboration between Definitive Jux and [adult swim]'s Williams Street (the former Ghost Planet Industries studio with its own Wikipedia entry) and it's "Presented By Old Spice", which is kind of cool in a weird way.

Ha ha!  I just realized the South gave us [adult swim]!!

Those darn simple minded Southerners and their Boston terrorizing simple mindedness.

In vaguely related Old Spice marketing news, I wrote about their Experience Old Spice website over at Fast Company.

Sean Price Promotes With A Press Filled Party Bus

Sean Price Press Event Graphic

Though it's a press only event, I think the planned mobile listening party for Sean Price's upcoming release of Jesus Price Supastar sounds like a fun idea.

Basically, they'll be renting a party bus and driving it around all day picking up and dropping off members of the press and whoever else they like for a listening party on wheels.

ProHipHop is less enthused about the Jesus references for all sorts of good reasons but that's Sean's cross to bear!

[lol]

Ivy Supersonic's Anti-20th Century Fox Media Campaign

Ivy Supersonice Scrat.com Poster In Shop Window

Event organizer and hat designer to the stars Ivy Supersonic has a beef with 20th Century Fox over the alleged infringement of intellectual property.

Ivy Supersonic Scrat.com Posters In New York City

You can check out her case for yourself but I'm bringing this up because of her gallery featuring photos and graphics that document her unique campaign conducted earlier this year against 20th Century Fox.

Ivy Supersonic Scrat.com Keychains!

Oldie But Goodie: Free Chocolate Swim EP Sponsored By Mountain Dew

Chocolate Swim Landing Page Graphic

Oddly enough, after having just written about what I mistakenly thought was a Mountain Dew product placement, I found the video promo for Adult Swim and Chocolate Industries' free EP and art download Chocolate Swim sponsored by Mountain Dew.

Chocolate Swim Promo Featuring Voice of Lady Sov

The digital download includes Lady Sovereign, Kutmaster Kurt, Mos Def, Vast Aire and MF Doom.

Though a note on Jive Magazines Forums says the free download became available in late June and would last for only a month, it's still good to go.

Art From Chocolate Swim Download

I just downloaded it and it's a 24 minute MP3 EP that's off to an ill start with Kovas.

I love this kind of marketing where brands and media companies and artists mix things up and Adult Swim seems to do it very well.

Don't miss the Samurai Champloo Breakfight.

Free EP & Art:
Chocolate Swim

Childhood Addiction To Now & Laters Inspires Promotion

One of the more interesting promotions I've heard of in a while comes from Tommy Danger, the Now & Laterman who related in his recent newsletter:

The Now & Laterman concept began in the streets of NYC before we had
mixtapes, websites, or a TV Show. The grind started with the passion
to let the world know who I am as an Artist without giving out flyers.
We looked at what has been a part of me since my child hood, which is
candy "Now & Laters" that I would OD on. In front of SOB's 2 years
ago at a social lounge function for Allhiphop.com I would approach
people, tell them my name, what my plans were and give them a pack of
Now & Laters in exchange for their e-mail address. We worked outside
the venue till we had 200 email addresses.

He also drew on the Now & Laters concept in another way:
The rest fell into the Now & Laterman mixtapes volumes 1-9 which are in Flavors instead of just numbers.

What I especially like about this approach is that it wasn't just a matter of trying to come up with something different to catch people's attention but it was drawn from an aspect of Tommy's own life that ultimately informed aspects of both his art and marketing.

MySpace page: Tommy Danger

Just For Kicks.: The Introduction Of The E-Goodie Bag

I'm a bit pressed for time and, since I spent more time than I expected on my discussion of the screener copy of Just For Kicks., let's cut to the chase with a quick look at the promotional e-goodie bag.

Here's a description of the contents of the e-goodie bag from the site:

- A dope J4K Computer Screen Saver

- A 10% off e-coupon to use with any purchase at our web store

- Six J4K computer background images (JPG)

- The official J4K Poster (pdf) & The official J4K Postcard (pdf)

- A J4K animated web banner (gif) // link it to www.JustForKicksMovie.com

- Eight J4K exclusive film clips (Quicktime) - instructions and links on how to download them. 4 of the clips are about 3 minutes and the other 4 are 1 1/2 minutes (shorter versions of the same cut). They feature:
* Sneaker Culture
* Collectors Closets
* Stick Up Stories
* Run DMC / My Adidas story

I guess this is a "so what?" moment for some people, since these folks aren't the first to make materials like the above available to fans, but there's something about the fact that they came in an e-goodie bag, aka an electronic goodie bag, that caught my attention.  According to an email from the film's Executive Producer Thierry Daher, who came up with the concept, an initial test received a strongly positive response.

As odd as it may sound, my own experience was of really wanting to know what was in the e-goodie bag, especially since I didn't have the above list to fill me in.  Obviously, the novelty aspect will wear off as more folks pick up on the concept and it simply becomes more convenient to download stuff in one package rather than having to go to different pages of a site hoping that the teaser links really are leading you to a cool freebie.

But my first response in an email to Thierry Daher shows that it caught my attention quite strongly:

Yeah, for some reason the goodie bag approach makes it more interesting
than a web page offering the stuff.  Or, I should say, enticing.  I'm
going to write something about this for sure.

It's weird the way some online equivalents of offline things work and
some don't.  I find Electronic Press Kits totally annoying unless I
know for sure there's something in it I want.  Yet I found myself
wanting to know what was in the e-goodie bag.

On closer examination, one finds that the film clips are actually a text file with links to the film clips and that the graphics aren't all that exciting, especially once you've been to the official website,  However, the background images are nicely done and would be worth taking a look at for designers as well as fans.

When I tried to check out the film clips I found that they aren't individually labeled but guessing that they followed the list order worked ok and I then just had to figure out which of the My Adidas story clips was the longer one, since YouTube just has the shorter ones.

Unfortunately, the longer one is also missing the "Russell Simmons was dusted" origin tale of My Adidas so you've got to see the DVD for that.

I guess the other danger that will remain after the novelty wears off is the danger of underwhelming someone after downloading and unzipping the file and checking out what's inside.

Still, I think it's a great idea and I'm not faulting the contents so much as raising some issues to consider.

Though I think it's unlikely that the electronic or digital goodie bag will mimic the continuing elevation of the stakes for offline Hollywood equivalents, it's kind of fun to think about how cool it could be if such a similar process were to occur online to excite the fans.

Related Post:
Just For Kicks.: B-Boys, Sneaker Freaks & Hip Hop Marketing

Creative Promos: Academic References, Letters From Prison, Online Beatbox Mixer, Habbo Appearances

Phat Tonez is Celebrating Seven Years of Ringtone Excellence
Phat Tonez ringtone service officially made it into the history books when a prestigious Yale University publication entitled "Ringtones, or the Auditory Logic of Globalization" by Sumanth Gopinath recognised the company as being the first to market ringtone customisation services.

Ex-Rapper Chi-Ali Sets up to Help his Younger Cousins Become the Next Big Thing in Hip Hop From his Prison Cell
Chi-Ali is pooling his resources with hopes of making his younger cousins Guns & Glamour (a male and female twin rap group) the next big thing in Hip Hop. He is starting to write letters from his prison cell for some of his Hip Hop contacts in regards to giving his cousins Guns & Glamour the exposure he has worked so hard to get them since 1998. Hip Hop moguls like DJ Red Alert, Big Tigger and P. Diddy should receive letters from Chi – Ali by the end of August 2006.

Pump Up the Sounds: Verizon Launches Online Interactive Beatbox Mixer
The Verizon Beatbox Mixer is a first-of-its-kind Web site, blending an audio mixer video showing the performers of each "beat" or track as they perform the player's mix. The concept, executed for Verizon by R/GA, Verizon's long-term digital agency, supports Verizon's corporate brand theme, "Richer, Deeper, Broader," and is intended to show people how powerful broadband is, while pushing the capabilities of the Web to its limits. R/GA used its broad knowledge of emerging consumer trends, technological expertise, and extensive background in creating engaging video experiences to make the Verizon Beatbox Mixer a reality.

Hip-Hop/R&B Sensations Ak'Sent and Cherish Check Into Teen Internet Phenomenon Habbo For Interactive Visit on July 20th
Using their specially created Habbo characters, Ak’Sent will check into Habbo on Thursday, July 20th at 7 PM EST, followed by Cherish at 8 PM EST. During the visit, the artists will hang out with fans on the Teen People Terrace and answer questions about their music, tour, and new CDs. The interview will be broadcasted over Habbo’s exclusive Internet Radio Stream, Bobba Music hosted by Jackie the DJ (www.bobbamusic.com).

Barbecue Marketing Research Alert: Juelz Santana's Town BBQ

Reminding us yet again that New York is back, forget what you heard and that even Noz can hold his head high, Juelz Santana let's us know that the Movement for Marketing with BBQ has deep roots in New York City!

If you caught last years's Town BBQ, then you know far more about the topic than do I, and that's nothing new for New York hip hop bloggers from Harlem to Westchester County!

Look for a repeat appearance by the disparate but ultimately united forces of Barbecue Marketing Research at the Fourth Annual "Santana’s Day BBQ" on Saturday, July 29th.

Wait, before you scoff, consider this.  The FADER blog post regarding Santana's '05 Town BBQ made their 2005 list of Top Eight FADER Blog Posts Involving Juelz Santana!

For the haters and doubters, how dare you think you could stop the progress of Brand Destruction Barbecue Marketing Research!

In fact, I was so happy to receive this press release, that it temporarily quieted my petty, yet consistent to the point of being expected, Irish "warp-spasm" in response to NY publicists who can't be bothered with spelling Lil Jon correctly or with acknowledging my repeated requests to send press releases to my Hip Hop Press address and to remove my ProHipHop address from those same lists.  Guidelines that a truly small handful of NY pr professionals seem to delight in ignoring.

Sadly, such behavior overshadows the fact that many of the brightest young minds in hip hop marketing, as well as some really cool publicists who I'd party with in a minute, currently reside in the Big Fat Apple.

Nevertheless, in the spirit of Barbecue Unity and the many related traditions of the School of Rafi Kam, I will lift my next slab of beef brisket to you!

Using Rap-like Music To Boost Carrboro, NC

It's odd what shifts your mood when you're confronted by ridiculous nonsense.  In this case, it was a silly hipster rap video boosting Carrboro, North Carolina (right next to Chapel Hill), one of the coolest little towns in the State.

Now everyone will start mispronouncing Carrboro and thinking we want you to move here.  Believe me.  We don't!

From the folks at It's Carrboro. Found via the Blogads weblog.

Related regional goodness: Houston So Real goes to a video shoot and show in Austin with lots of photos [right after the poster for a Dallas show that would have made a nice separate post - hint, hint].  Note J. Kapone's Screw Bangin' t-shirt in the show photos which I'm assuming is a similar sentiment to RK's Stop Shooting shirt.

Let the antiviolence memes proliferate!

Mobb Deep Survives Subway Promo

Mobb Deep survives the ride on NY subways in anticipation of the Tuesday release of Blood Money.

Lollapalooza Rolling Papers Promo Goes Awry

A really nice Lollapalooza rolling papers promotion went awry when the promotional Palooza Papers were handed out at a Chicago park by Lollapalooza's public relations firm, Fresh and Clean Media.

Not realizing that the public location was an issue:
Lollapalooza producer Charlie Jones was initially taken aback by reporter questions about distributing rolling papers in a city park. "Is there something wrong with them?'' he asked at Washington Park. He said they were created as part of an ad campaign and first handed out at the South By Southwest Festival, an industry event held annually in Austin, Texas.

Official site: Lollapalooza

Real HipHop Hair From Brazil

Here's a fun Brazilian hip hop hair bus stop ad for Real HipHop by Dentsu/Brazil.

Mobb Deep Promotes With Subway Appearances

Mobb Deep is promoting the upcoming release of Blood Money by afterschool appearances at popular subway stops in the New York area.  It would be interesting to know what kind of security is arranged for such a promotion.