Hip Hop’s pop up shop, buying is the new marketing.

By
Insomniac
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More so than any other type of artist within the music industry, rappers are most frequently at the cusp of the intersection of music, fashion, marketing and commerce. In an atmosphere where selling music is becoming closer to ancillary revenue than the epicenter, once again, Hip Hop artists lead the pack. A phenomenon that is proving to be a catalyst for publicity, fandom and selling is the pop up shop. A recent example to cause a frenzy is Kanye’s “Pablo” shop. Themed after a track off of his latest album, the “No More Parties in L.A.” stores feature branded minimalistic apparel branishing Old English styled typefaces. Weeks before, Drake caught Twitter by storm when he announced temporary shopping experiences of the brick and mortar variety. The Beats By Dre cobranded stores drew swarms of fans in multiple cities to get their hands on the “Views” blazoned apparel before the official release of  the rapper’s newest title.

The wave of Hip Hop pop up shops didn’t start this year, in 2013, Nipsey Hussle successfully caused fans to clamor for a chance to buy  album branded goods at his “Crenshaw” temporary store. Each of these instances provided an opportunity to create excitement around an event similar to the announcement of an artist’s upcoming tour would. However, unlike at a concert, where buying merchandise is a byproduct of the experience, in these instances, purchasing artists’ goods is the main event. -Israel Vasquetelle


Kanye pop up store in Los Angeles pic.twitter.com/m53Q33pwvF


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