50 Cent: Name Brand Dropper Of The Year (Sorry Kanye)

Hip hop savvy San Francisco/Paris brand strategy agency Agenda Inc. has released its 2005 American Brandstand report.  The report is a comprehensive study on the name brands that are mentioned in singles that cracked the top 20 on the Billboard charts in 2005.

#1 name dropper of 2005: 50 Cent, usurping the crown formerly held by Kanye West
#1 name dropped by artists in 2005: Mercedes-Benz, followed by Nike and Cadillac

Say what you will about the methodology, the report is pretty intriguing.  I wish they covered more than the top 20, but there is only so much a small strategy shop can do in their spare time. Definite ups to them for pulling it together.  Peep the full report:

Agenda Inc.'s American Brandstand 2005 (PDF) 

As has been mentioned in the past, lyrical product placement is an emerging trend in the music industry, in the same vein as movie or sitcom product placement.  Some artists get paid for mentioning products (Petey Pablo and his blatant Segram's endorsement in Freek-a-Leek), others obviously don't (imagine how much money Dem Franchise Boys could have made from Hanes or Fruit of the Loom for promoting white tees).  It will be interesting to see whether artists will continue to be tight-lipped about this type of stealth marketing, or if they will be more transparent. 

Comments

[Taryn85]

Miraflor,

Very interesting. Thanks for including the link to your article "Lyrical Product Placement" as well.

[Hashim]

were 50's mentions for his own products, or others?

I wonder how much of this is paid and how much is just label bragging?

[Ill Will]

They must have misplaced "The Documentary".

[Ross]

Will, that was my first thought too. But it looks like they focused on brand names and products. Most of the names Game was dropping were like Eric Wright or Christopher Wallace and while he was doing some bragging about possesions, 50 far outstrips him there. If Agenda Inc was tabulating the number of times rappers used other people's lines in their lyrics, Game would be at the top of that. Anyway, if you checked the PDF you'd see that Game tied for second with Luda.

[Ross]

Just a sidenote: after looking through the report it seems that they were only counting singles, not albums, for whatever effect that would have on the results.

[Tego]

50 dropped more names then The Game? You've heard the album right?

[StussyD]

Hashim, the .pdf says that Pharrell's mention of Ice Cream Sneakers was the year's only instance of a rapper name-dropping "his own brand." So I would think that either American Brandstand didn't count 50's G-Unit mentions, or, somehow, there were none in the singles that they examined.

[Rachel S]

Two interesting observations about the report. 1) The company's clients are primarily luxury brands, which makes me wonder if there was some bias there. 2) They are claiming that this trend is on the decline, even saying somethign about the post branding era of Hip Hop.

[jus2real]

The fact that these name drops for companies that 9 times out of ten would shun anyone except these artists only speaks on the all to many ways soul of rap (not hip hop, as hip hop is the culture in which rap resides) is almost all gone. This coming from a guy who speaks like he is trying 2 get a guest spot on Fox News Channel, or a date with Condelezza Rice. Who's only real marketing was that he "was shot nine times". Not that he battled his way into the spot. Then The Lame...oops I mean The Game busting out, and without shame spoke on how he was in the rap game all of three months before he was put on. Check this. If 50 cent was off the street and rolled into a Mercedes dealership what do you really think would happen? Even now and they didn't know who he was. So many kids, and adults, try to walk in the shoes of people like him. He will be able to get away with it because he is 50cent. His white fans who like his "black acting" ways will get away with it also (also ask Becky or Todd who X-Clan, Paris, or Public Enemy is. Get the point?) What about a "black acting" black walks into the offices to do business with any of these people who so eagerly draps names for?

[martin]

we love every brand from yellow smiley face to ysl but its not worth bragging about when everyone has it or knows about it especially when any body with decent money is buying that stuff off of the money we give them....dead all that shit...or maybe be more mysterious about the items exactness, like jay-z does sometimes. c-ya

[GGGGUNIT]

Yeah gayme's album sux ass because he name dropped 2pac and a bunch of dead ppl LOL he died from a gun what a loser and 50 cent did so much more shit for rap music than him and he took 9 shots and is alive and is the best lyricer nd singer in da world and his clothes brand is awesome i hav 3 complete sets wich i where evry day guunnniittt

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