Is this Rap Wars 2007: East vs. West all over again? Not quite. At the end of the day, there will be one winner- Universal Records. Yes, both titles are distributed by Universal. Do you really think that either 50 or Kanye will quit rapping if the other sells more records; don’t hold your breath. If you believe that then you’ll believe that Ice Cube and Master P are quitting the rap and the show business games as well.
Don’t be mad, it’s all in the name of marketing and selling music in an industry that is trying to figure out what the next money maker is going to be. This is a somewhat tired, uninteresting ploy to get fans riled up so they can pick a side and drop some dollars on the CD; pitting one rapper against another is not original. Sure some fans will take sides. That is, online, in forums and blogs, but will they take sides in stores? We’ll soon see. There was a time when something being viral meant that it was organic. Today major conglomerates are dipping deep in their pockets to manufacture viral buzz. Is this an oxymoron? Oh, you ask how is it costing them money? Look at your electronic superstore circulars in Sunday’s paper (i.e. Best Buy), you’ll see the sale boxes with both the new 50 and Kanye album covers positioned together on sale for $9.99 each. Funny thing, on the Circuit City circular in the computer section they have a spot featuring 50’s image on one computer monitor screen and Kanye on another. The two computers are positioned against each other on page. Ironically, both computers were HPs. No matter which computer the consumer chooses, HP wins. I’m curious if that cost the label extra, or if it was part of the co-op advertising expenses to competitively price and strategically position these releases in the store and on advertising for the week.
Both albums have already been leaked. Is this too a promotion strategy. Prince gave away millions of albums for free with the newspaper in London. Was this a dumb move? Giving away product for free. No, it got him all over the news and in people’s minds once again. Happy fans will buy concert tickets and support this artist because he was perceived as giving something to the people. And guess what, his label still dropped his album in stores. Hip Hop marketers have been using leaked and free music as a promotional tool for years. Rivalry in Hip Hop isn’t new either. Here’s a new concept, maybe a little too far-fetched: can someone just drop some quality Hip Hop music? Now that’s a novel approach to sell some music. Maybe get fans really excited about an awesome album that breaks the mold and delivers something that they just haven’t heard before. Is this going to happen? I doubt it. Aren’t labels dropping their own brand of mixtapes to combat piracy? Why didn’t they put out a 50 vs. Kanye Mix CD with all new songs? Now that would have been original. By the way, who’s rooting for Kenny Chesney?
Real authentic beef? What a joke. They’re going to be on 106 and Park on Tuesday to promote this battle of the album sales. Don King should have been invovled, then maybe someone would care. This is just a publicity stunt, and a passionless one at that.