ok, we always knew it was a business.

and we all know the materialism has been getting worse over the last decade... shit's all million dollar watches and candy whips now.

wikipedia put this shift quite succintly:
"Lyrical content, which shifted from the majority of songs portraying the rapper as being poor, or dependant on crime to make money while living in the ghetto, to being wealthy and having the best jewelry, clothes, liquor, and women. Compare Ice Cube's "Today Was a Good Day", to BG's "Bling-Bling". Some critics say that this shift is worse then the earlier shift into violent lyrics because it encourages materialism. "

yeah, and i'll be a critic then.

check american brandstand, which tracks the brands that are mentioned the most, and the songs with the most brand names mentioned in them. (of the top 100 tracks, i think 99 are hip-hop.)

http://www.agendainc.com/brand04.html


but the article that made me bring this tired horse back from the dogfood factory is this one:

http://media.guardian.co.uk/marketingandpr/pulse/story/0,10489,1447335,00.html

Big Mac rap may mean artists' payday

Richard Jinman
Tuesday March 29, 2005
The Guardian

Rap artists are accustomed to name-checking prestige car, clothing and jewellery brands in their lyrics. But if McDonald's has its way Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z and 50 Cent may soon be giving it up for the humble beefburger.
The fast-food giant is reported to be launching a campaign that will offer financial incentives to rap artists who mention its Big Mac burger in their lyrics. McDonald's will not pay an upfront fee, but intends to pay the artist between $1 and $5 (53p-£2.68) each time a track is played on the radio. It hopes to have several such songs on the airwaves by the summer.

Walt Riker, a spokesman for McDonald's in the US, said the initiative would be conducted by the US marketing firm Maven Strategies, which last year managed to get Seagram's gin mentioned in five rap songs.

Tony Rome, Maven's president, said his aim was to identify artists whose style would identify with the brand. McDonald's would have final approval of the lyrics, he said.

The campaign was condemned yesterday by the US lobby group Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. It accused McDonald's of targeting a young audience who were already particularly prone to obesity.

The group's founder, Susan Linn, said: "They're dumping one of their most high fat, high calorific products on kids in a way that the kids won't even know that it's happening."

Mr Riker denied that claim yesterday. "Our customers are smart," he said. "They know how to make choices that are right for them."



___________________________________


Rap music = Now with added capitalism!

_________________________
http://www.paulwalsh.co.nz
art.design.comics.blog.etc