Branding In Hip-Hop
I have created this blog as a way to show the relationship between branding and hip-hop. Branding is more than just a name and logo. A brand has a culture and a background. They symbolize an idea. Rappers, using heavy metaphors, use brands as a way to creatively express their ideas and overall messages.
I've been obsessed with hip-hop since I was 6. Figured I would create something related to it while utilizing my media/advertising background. So enjoy the product placement!
*I do not own any of these images
Ice Cube - Today Was A Good Day
Even saw the lights of the Goodyear Blimp/ And it read Ice Cube’s a pimp/ Drunk as hell but no throwing up/ Half way home and my pager still blowing up/ Today I didn’t even have to use my AK/ I got to say it was a good day
Everyone wants to be Al Pacino in Scarface. He noticed the blimp saying “The World Is Yours” and it all went sky high from there. Though the ending ends in a unappealing way, Scarface essentially was a king that got everything he wanted (woman, money, house, power). So when Ice Cube is looking at a Goodyear Blimp spitting out messages such as “Ice Cube’s a Pimp”, you know he is feeling good. However, Ice Cube is being facetious and really picturing a Goodyear Blimp going by with this message. It has a high probability to happen, especially since Ice Cube is already having such a good day. Sometimes, it can be hard to believe that a day is going well. But when you have that good day, embrace it and remember the feeling you had. Then realize that “today was a good day.”
Goodyear continues to use blimps as a way to deliver messages. It still grabs attention and you never know what kind a great message you will get.
*Now looks in sky hoping for a “Tan is a Pimp” blimp going by.
Ice Cube “I Ain’t The 1”
And after the date, I’ma want to do the wild thing/ You want lobster huh? I’m thinking Burger King/ And when I take you, you get frustrated/ You can’t juice Ice Cube and you hate it
Ice Cube, always hilarious and vulgar, makes it clear that he is not the one. He is not the one to be taken advantage of by a gold-digging female. Hell, if we are talking about Ice Cube at the time of this recording (1987, when he was with the controversial N.W.A.), he is probably making it clear that he is not the one for any female. In these lyrics, he explains his awareness of a female trying to juice (or take advantage of) Ice Cube’s wealth. Cube is clearly after one goal, and that is for the woman to do wild things and provide sexual relations. There is absolutely no lobster involved. Luckily for the hungry woman, he can provide Burger King. Always the cheaper alternative for anybody, Burger King can satiate the woman and hopefully be enough for her. Or, if Ice Cube is correct, it will only make her more angry and frustrated. But by purchasing Burger King, Cube ironically makes it clear that she can’t “have it her way.”
Word of advice ladies… if you go on a date with Ice Cube, DO NOT try to juice him.
