Jay-Z The Business Man

http://www.theskinnyc.com/2012/not-a-businessman-
a-business-man/ (2013)

While the rest of the Hip Hop world was anticipating Kanye West's Yeezus, J. Cole’s Born Sinner, and Wale’s The Gifted, a new list of Hip Hop heavy weights chose to release their projected release dates.

One of the most talked about upcoming albums is Jay-Z’s Magna Carter Holy Grail. Jay-Z gave the world a class session on Marketing and Deal making all in one night. The Hip Hop mogul chose to air an unexpected commercial promoting his album during the 2013 NBA Finals. This was the perfect opportunity for him to air his commercial for a couple of reasons. 

First of all, this game just so happened to be played on Father’s Day, so you automatically know the male population was definitely glued to the TV screen. This was a perfect opportunity for Jay-Z to reach his core fan base.

Secondly, over the years there has been a unique trend between the NBA and the Hip Hop industry, whether it’s through fashion, mentioning NBA players in rap lyrics, Hip Hop artists sitting courtside at NBA games, and even Jay-Z recently being a shareholder for the Brooklyn Nets. As a result, one can’t help but to assume that most NBA fans are also Hip Hop fans.

 Lastly, when most artists are publicizing their albums they only mention their producers in interviews. Jay-Z went against the grain, considering the fact that music producers have a great following too. He featured some of the industries top Hip Hop producers in this commercial, which totally raised the anticipation level for the album. These producers were Rick Rubin, Pharrell Williams, Swizz Beatz, and Timbaland. All of these producers have previously worked with Jay-Z on past albums.

Jay-Z then gave us a lesson in Deal making with his win-win opportunity with Samsung. The electronics corporation purchased 1 million copies of Magna Carter Holy Grail with the intent to give them away for free to Samsung Galaxy smartphone users 72 hours before the release date. Users will not be able to share the music until the actual release date, which is set for July 4^th, 2013.

This was a genius deal both on Jay-Z’s part, as well as Samsung. Jay-Z automatically has 1 million in album sales before they even hit the shelves, which isn’t a bad number to start with. Also, Samsung is a winner in this deal because it shows strides in their obvious competition with Apple Inc.

Although I’m not a fan of Jay-Z’s album title, and the word play with “Holy grail”, I must say that this deal with Samsung, as well as his marketing strategy was Genius!

This album is said to change the entertainment industry for ages, but don’t take my word for it. Go out on July 4^th and decide for yourself.

Hip Hop's Anticipated Summer Albums

This summer, three of my favorite Hip Hop artists will be releasing their highly anticipated albums, Wale, J. Cole, and Kanye West. I suspect that all of these projects will be of great contribution to the music world.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Wales-Album
-Cover-(THE-GIFTED)/7891393 (2013)

One thing I’ve liked about Wale’s recent projects is the marketing strategy behind each one. His marketing team always used techniques that would help bring a high anticipation for the project. For example, looking back at 2011 when Wale dropped his mixtape The Eleven One Eleven Theory, he utilized the date of his release as a great marketing tool. Throughout the various social media platforms the catchy numerical sequence flooded timelines, until it got to the point where you had to check out the mixtape when the release date finally came.

Wale has taken a different approach with his new album The Gifted. He has made miniature video promos that give quotes and clips of some of the worlds most successful individuals. For example, Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, Muhammad Ali, Steve Jobs, Mike Tyson, and Barrack Obama can all be seen in these webisodes. This is a great technique because he is giving you the definition of the word “gifted” by showing you who he admires, or who he considers to be gifted. The Gifted is expected to be release on June 25th,2013.

http://www.bet.com/news/music/2012/11/06/j-cole-
announces-sophomore-album-born-sinner-for-january.html (2013)

For J. Cole, this will be his 2^nd studio album entitled Born Sinner. J. Cole held a listening session in a few specific locations. The Roc Nation artist originally planned on giving his fans a live stream to promote the album. The live stream was available in Atlanta, Boston, New York, Chicago, Toronto, Houston, Los Angeles, and Fayetteville, North Carolina. Unfortunately the album ended up getting leaked, and is available through the Internet.

Many listeners don’t understand the time and effort required in creating a quality project. So I encourage you all to still go out and purchase J. Cole’s album in respect of the art. His album will still be released on June 18, 2013.

http://www.rap-up.com/2013/05/18/kanye-west-to
-release-new-album-yeezus-on-june-18/  (2013

On the same day, Kanye West will be debuting his 8^th studio album entitled Yeezus. The title of this album has received much publicity by itself. Lately Kanye West has been using risky imagery along with Bible depictions in his artwork, lyrics and videos. It is no secret that Yeezus sounds incredibly similar to the spelling and pronunciation of Jesus. But has Kanye West ultimately crossed that thin line between creativity and disrespect with his new album title Yeezus? I encourage all of my viewers to analyze the situation, and his lyrics for yourselves and see if you are in support of Mr. West’s new album.

Mr. West also had an incredible performance at the Governor’s Ball on Randall’s Island this past Sunday. Kanye gave his fans a early listen to some of the new tracks included on his new album.

I have been a fan of all three of these Hip Hop artists, Wale, J. Cole, and Kanye West. My final hopes for these albums are.

1.I would like to hear Wale maintain his lyrical and poetic flow as usual, while still giving the fans something to groove to.

2. I would like for all the fans to go out and purchase J. Cole’s album, despite it being leaked on the Internet.

3. I would love for Kanye West to give the fans a quality album like he did with The College Dropout.