Wyclef Jean: In Schools and In-stores, Award Winning, Memoir Writing

Wyclef Jean Participates in VILLA's Big Serve Community Initiative

Wyclef Jean has been staying busy in addition to releasing From The Hut, To The Projects, To The Mansion with DJ Drama.

He's making school appearances with VILLA, Timberland and NBA Cares as shown above.

He and Bono will soon receive the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights 2009 Ripple of Hope Award.

Plus, Wyclef is making an in-store appearance at Jimmy Jazz to support the Timberland Earthkeepers Yéle Haiti Collection, working with Western Union on their Random Acts of Giving campaign and, sooner or later, getting started on his memoirs.

Available on iTunes: Wyclef Jean

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Wyclef Jean & DJ Drama: From The Hut, To The Projects, To The Mansion
Wyclef Jean: If I Were President

Ghostface Killah: Adidas In-Store Tour Schedule

Here are the dates and locations for Ghostface Killah's upcoming series of appearances at Adidas stores:

SEPTEMBER 25
San Francisco
Shoe Biz Adidas Originals Concept Store
1420 Haight Street

SEPTEMBER 29
New York
Adidas Original Store, Soho
136 Wooster Street

OCTOBER 1
Washington DC
Adidas Original Store, Georgetown
1251 Wisconsin Ave. NW

OCTOBER 3
Philadelphia
Adidas Original Store
436 South Street

Via Miss Theda.

Kidz In the Hall: I Got It Made (Reebok Classic '09') Music Video & Live In-store @ Foot Locker Times Square

Kidz In the Hall - I Got It Made (Reebok Classic '09')

Here's the music video for Kidz In the Hall's version of Special Ed's I Got It Made for the Reebok Classic Remix collection campaign.

Kidz In The Hall Live In-store @ Foot Locker Times Square

This video is more of a minidoc of their recent in-store appearance at Foot Locker Times Square. It actually seems more fun than the music video itself.

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Kidz In The Hall in Reebok Classic Remix Campaign

Sk8tique: Don Cannon & Stevie Williams' Skate Boutique

DJ Don Cannon and skateboarder Stevie Williams teamed up to launch Sk8tique, a skate boutique in Atlanta's Little Five Points on October 17th.

Metromix has pics from the opening.

Nah Right has videos of The Cool Kids and Asher Roth.

Steve & Barry's Files for Bankruptcy

The Wall St. Journal has been covering the bankruptcy of Steve & Barry's.  Papers were filed on Wednesday.

An earlier report discussed the devastation ahead:

"A filing would be painful to mall owners across the country, who ponied up hundreds of millions of dollars to attract Steve and Barry's into huge, empty spaces, often as large as 100,000 square feet. Many, and potentially all of those 275 stores could close, say people familiar with the matter. As of January, the company had between 16,000 and 17,000 employees; most of those jobs will be eliminated, people familiar with the matter say. Some vendors have already stopped shipping to the company in anticipation of a filing."

That's really sad.  In a different economic environment this might just lead to a reorganization but it sounds like total annhilation.

Get your Starbury's now!

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Stephon Marbury's Starbury Collection

Atlanta's Earwax Records Shuts Down Store

Atlanta's Earwax Records officially announces the closing of their physical location though they will continue online.

iTunes Claims Top U.S. Music Retailer Status

According to the NPD group iTunes is now the top U.S. music retailer.

That's a trip.  When ProHipHop started in 2004 it seemed reasonable to have a digital music category.  Now it's so much the norm that a category is somewhat redundant and was discontinued because it wasn't being updated.

Nike & Foot Locker Open 1st House of Hoops in Harlem

MarketWatch's Andria Cheng Interviews Nike President Charlie Denson

Nike and Converse together under one roof.  At last!

Nike and Foot Locker announced plans for up to 50 House of Hoops stores back in May to be opened over a three year period:

Foot Locker and Nike, the supplier of half of Foot Locker's shoes, are trying to spur sales of high-end basketball apparel at urban stores outside malls as customers buy more general-use sneakers instead of shoes for specific sports. Most of the basketball stores will be converted Foot Locker locations.

"These stores are too small to merchandise Foot Locker's entire offering, and they need to be upgraded," said John Shanley, a New York-based analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group. "It's a good way for Nike to keep competing brands out of the picture.

At about 2,100 square feet, the average U.S. Foot Locker store is about one-sixth the size of a typical Niketown store, which sells shoes and clothes at high-profile locations such as Chicago's Magnificent Mile and Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive.

Gino Green Global Tours w/Tigger, Terrence & Young Buck

Gino Green Global Tour Bus

New York-based streetwear company Gino Green Global is currently on a promotional tour of outlets for the brand with guest appearances by Tigger & Terrence of 106 & Park and Young Buck.

I would have caught the first in-store in Raleigh if I'd gotten the press release beforehand.  Too bad cause we're not overrun by such events.

The Best Of NWA, Not Available For Christmas Gifts

Am I just in another of my clueless states or is releasing The Best of NWA the day after Christmas really a bad move?  I know it could be due to forces beyond their control and that maybe they're hoping to get an after Christmas shopping bonus but it just seems very ill-timed.

Coming Dec. 26th, released to miss the biggest shopping days of the year but just in time for New Year's gift giving:
The Best of N.W.A: The Strength of Street Knowledge

Too Short In-[Liquor]Store For Remy Martin

Too Short - Blow The Whistle

I just got off the phone with Darren Keast of the East Bay Express who's doing a piece about Too Short's in-store events for Remy Martin in East Bay liquor stores.  He says it's a recent thing and that all the events have been in-stores in pretty rough neighborhoods.

They seem to have brought out a nice crowd for the in-store depicted in this promo video.  It's a YouTube video and I'd be running it here if the embedding wasn't disabled.  But, hey, that means you get to watch Blow The Whistle!

DJ Juice was on hand and Too Short did both a Remy Martin bottle signing (damn, I want one of those!) and a live performance.  Nicely done.

Update:

Too Short In-store in Fort Worth, Texas

These brief clips at an in-store appearance in Fort Worth just don't hold a candle to that East Bay liquor store!

Dave Chappelle Illustrates The Politics Of Marketing

Dave Chappelle made a light night visit at the Hollywood Virgin Megastore at 12:01 am this morning, just as the new unrated dvd of Dave Chappelle's Block Party went on sale.  I previously posted on some fun promotions for the dvd but this sequence with the kid says it all.

Marketing one's own product is a lot like running for political office:

Greet the baby.

Display the baby.

Sell stuff to the baby (mama).

Seriously, it's so good to see Dave back in action.

Thanks to Special Ops Media for the pics.

Ice Cube In-Store Photos, Plus A Cool T-Shirt

I've got a longer piece in progress about the marketing of Ice Cube's new album Laugh Now, Cry Later, but I want to go ahead and point to a couple of my favorite Westchester bloggers who recently posted about Ice Cube's in-store appearances.

As is often the case, Eskay was first up with a post on an in-store in Hollywood with photos via WireImage.

He also included a fun follow up that emphasizes Ice Cube's broad based appeal.

Rafi Kam followed with a pic of Ice Cube meeting Oh Word's Ice Cube tee at a New York in-store.

I recently received the Jackin' for Beats tee pictured above as a review item (one that I requested).  I don't know what to say other than it's a cool shirt.  And I look forward to wearing it out and about.  And you should check out Slang Words: The Oh Word Store for more fun tees.

Hip Hop In-Stores Covered By The Boston Herald

A Boston Herald article on in-store events in Boston doesn't shed any new ground * but makes the point that, "for rappers, the in-store is a fan-friendly medium between street corners and nightclubs." As one retailer put it, "We do it for the 18-and-under crowd, the people who don’t like clubs and the people who just don’t want to pay to get into clubs."

Though I tend to think about the artists when looking at in-stores, they're potentially a great way to promote your store and make it part of the community. Activities at Massive Records in Cambridge and UndergroundHipHop.com in the Back Bay were considered for the article.

[* "shed any new ground" WTF!?! Who wrote that?!?]]

Mobb Deep In-Store for Blood Money

Here's an account and a couple of pics of a recent Mobb Deep in-store at an FYE in New York. Although I've had my doubts, SOHH NYC claims:
According to early projections, Hav and P are on track to move a little over 100,000 units their first week and will probably land somewhere around number 2 or 3 on Billboard next week.

I'm looking forward to knowing!