Branding In Hip-Hop

Lil Kim - Queen Bitch

Sippin Zinfandel, up in Chippendales/ Shop in Bloomingdales for Prada bags/ Female Don Dada hats no problems spittin cream with my team/ Shit’s straight like nine fifteen, y’nahmean?

Lil Kim is the Queen Bitch.  Running with her Junior Mafia crew back in the day, she was the top female rapper out.  The status she had was everywhere.  She was sipping good wine while being the center of attention while watching Chippendales, a exotic male dance crew.  Getting her Prada Bags at Bloomingdales and perhaps her “Don Dada” hats too (which are probably mafioso style Italian hats), money is not an issue.  She can get the best drinks and products from the best stores.  It’s not a problem.  It’s all straight (which is common slang for alright).  It’s so straight like when it’s 9:15 on a traditional clock. 

Prada is quite the popular brand with females.  Bags, a symbol of luxury and also quite the out-of-home advertisement, gives a woman like Lil Kim status.  Especially while she is hanging out with male strippers.  

Fat Joe - Another Round (remix)

Lord, Emilio Pucci leggings for good behavior/ I wanna tear them shits off you like Hulkamania/ Then dive up in the pussy, Superfly Snuka/ Have you coming back to back, more sex to cook up

Fat Joe finds it very attractive when a woman is wearing Emilio Pucci leggings.  These leggings are very expensive and definitely a luxury product.  In the same category as “Red-Bottoms”, Emilio Pucci leggings will make any woman look highly sophisticated, fancy and fashionable.  Fat Joe, not caring about the high price and value of the leggings, just wants to see her legs without them.  He even threatens to tear them off like Hulk Hogan did when he would rip off his shirt before wrestling matches. And once the expensive leggings are torn off, he wants to jump into her vagina just like wrestler Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka did in Madison Square Garden, when he did a famous Superfly Splash on Magnificent Muraco off a steel cage.  After performing his “finisher”, Fat Joe is sure that the woman will come back for more (perhaps after purchasing new leggings).  

Woman have also worn leggings out in public, especially when wearing skirts or during spring weather.  Some go for the cheaper alternatives, which are probably less than $10.  But others, especially those that hang around Joey Crack, will spend about $500.  

Will Smith - Men In Black

The title held by me - M.I.B./ Means what you think you saw, you did not see/ So don’t blink be what was there/ Is now gone, black suit with the black Ray Ban’s on/ Walk in shadow, move in silence/ Guard against extra-terrestrial violence

When the first Men In Black was released in 1997, Will Smith showed the world he had what it takes to save the planet from aliens.  He rescued us after an intense showdown at Flushing Meadows Park, doing it with such finesse and style.  And this style is attributed to the strict MIB dress code.  Black Suit, black shoes, black tie and most importantly the black Predator 2 Ray Bans.  Without the Ray Bans on, Will Smith would quickly forget everything after shooting a neuroalyzer on civilians who witness alien activity.  While what you “think you saw but did not see”, Will knows and remembers everything thanks to his Ray Bans.

The Men In Black single and soundtrack was highly successful due to Will Smith’s rapidly rising popularity in the nineties.  With the Ray Ban product placement in the movie and single, Ray Ban sales tripled.  And if the dress code is the same in Men In Black 3, we can only expect more finesse and style from Big Willie as he saves us once again.  

Pusha T - So Appalled

Success is what you make it, take it how it come/ a half a mill in twenties is like a billion where I’m from/ an arrogant drug dealer, the legend I’ve become/ CNN said I’d be dead by 21

Pusha is well known for his vivid lyrics on hustling drugs as a means to make money and support himself.  The definition of success is relative to everyone, and in Pusha’s case success is to return to his hometown with stacks full of twenty dollar bills (equaling $500,000) from his drug sales.  He is so good in his drug dealing ways that he feels the success and arrogance that money brings.  CNN, periodically creating articles and blog posts about the life of minorities in lower-income neighborhoods, is mentioned as a way to reinforce the success he has attained.  When statistics and new reports say that drug dealers from lower-class neighborhoods will be dead by 21, Pusha can’t help but feel some sense of immortality.  Especially now that he is a successful rapper on one of the best labels out right now. 

CNN, though with its share of critics, has been a formidable news source for decades.  Their reports are often respected by most.  However, news articles can’t always be right, and stats can’t speak for all individuals.  There is the chance that someone can escape the dark lives they come from and attain success.  However, it is up to the individual on whether the pursuit of that success is legitimate (rapper) or illegal (drug-dealer).  

Young Jeezy - Supafreak

Everytime you see me on grind: stay on that working shit/ All I ever want’s a bad bitch in a Chanel bag/ Street niggas want her cause they know she got Chanel swag

Young Jeezy stay on that working shit, grinding it out to keep succeeding and getting superfreaks.  Working could also mean that he is still selling cocaine, something that he has always mentioned in his career.  Either way, Jeezy works his ass off and in return all he wants is a woman that has a Chanel bag.  Everyone, especially people living a “street life”, want this woman because she wears luxurious and fancy fashion like Chanel.  The woman must be doing something right if she is walking around with these kind of ornaments.  

Hand bags and purses are a very popular fashion statement for women everywhere.  Different sizes and brands show the style the woman has.  Chanel bags have quite the appeal to men, and it is only hoped that at the end of the day the woman is a superfreak that got that “wet-wet.”

Cam’Ron - I Just Wanna

Want a girl who don’t need prada/ She could be a damn reeboker/ [As] long as she freak proper

Cam is letting you know what he wants in life.  In this song, he mentions desires such as the coke prices going down and getting a blow job from Miss Patti Labelle.  Anothing thing is he wants a woman with simple pleasures.  Not one of those “bougie” chicks that needs the high end fashions in order to show her value to the world.  For Cam, brand names on a girl don’t matter.  Even if they wear the less luxurious Reebok brand, it is all good as long as she is a proper freak in the bed.  Looks like the rich and famouse Patti Labelle may not be that needed after all.  

Cam’Ron not having a problem with the brand names on a girl shows a more humble nature to his personality.  It also shows his affections towards the “freak” inside all women.  His views on Reebok are quite contrasting to Jay-Z’s, his former colleague and now long time rival.   

The Game - Hate It Or Love It

I ain’t have 50 Cent when my Grandmomma died/ Now i’m goin back to Cali with my Jacob on/ See how time fly?

The Game expresses his gratitude for former label mate with 50 Cent, who signed him to G-Unit Records back in their prime in 2003.  For The Game, being associated with one of the top acts of that time was monumental.  It meant a lot.  What once was a life where his friend was murdered for Barkley sneakers and when his grandmother died before seeing The Game’s success is now a life of fame and success.  He went from living in Cali to now traveling all over, wearing a luxurious Jacob watch that can only be purchased from Jacob the Jeweler in New York City. Therefore, “time” is flying, literally.  

The Game continues to enjoy his global success and perhaps has a lot more watches at his disposal.  However, that Jacob watch was perhaps the first of many.  A must have for any successful rapper.  

Jay-Z - What More Can I Say

Young, Hova the God, nigga. Blasphemy/ I’m at the Trump International: ask for me/ I ain’t never scared. I’m everywhere, you ain’t never there

Jay-Z, ready to declare his “retirement”, asks everyone “What More Can I Say.”  After multiple platinum albums, having a minority stake in the now Brooklyn Nets, and impacting rap and pop culture like no other, he really has nothing else to say to prove his worth to people.  Pound for pound he is the best.  And if anyone disagrees, they can definitely come to Jay-Z and ask for him.  However, they will need to go visit him at the Trump International.  The Trump International is not an ordinary hotel.  It’s where the big dogs roll.  Just visiting him at the Trump is not enough to know that he has done it all.  He is the God MC and blasphemous for his brash delivery.  But if there are still critics, all they need to realize is that he is everywhere that they have never been. 

Puff Daddy – It’s All About The Benjamins

Ain’t nobody’s hero, but I want to be heard/ On your Hot 9-7 everyday, that’s my word

1997 was quite a memorable year for hip-hop.  The world lost The Notorious B.I.G., MTV was in love with hip-hop (and Hype Williams) and Puff Daddy and his family had hip-hop by the balls.  Bad Boy records was everywhere that year.  In “It’s All About the Benjamins”, Puff is letting it known that he wants to be the man that has all the Benjamins (hundred dollar bills).  He also lets it known that he is not trying to be a hero, because again it’s ALL about the Benjamins.  But, he does want to be the guy on Hot 97 every day.  Hot 97 is the premier and iconic radio station in New York.  For decades, the station has introduced he world to some of the greatest artists.  Getting airplay on Hot 97 essentially means that you are a success and you made it.  So for Puff, getting played on Hot 97 every day will most likely lead to him getting more Benjamins.  

Even with rivalries with other DJS and stations, Hot 97 has continued to maintain their dominance in hip-hop as the radio station to be a part of.  With the annual Summer Jam Festival (an iconic hip-hop festival) and legendary “Flex bombs”, Hot 97 is a very important part of hip-hop culture.  If your song is on the station or you get to have an interview, you will be one step closer to getting those Benjamins.  

Busta Rhymes – Why We Die

I must be cuckoo, like I respect the new-you, never/ See you too could get it through your FUBU sweater/ like a nigga when he walk in the dark, trespassing/ on a nigga land, shots echo loud in the park

FUBU, and other hip-hop influenced designer brands, were gaining much popularity during the nineties.  In 1999 (when this song was released) clothing lines sucj as RocaWare and Sean John were born, which to this day continue to make millions in revenue.  FUBU (which stand for “For Us By Us”) was a highly popular brand that represented the rawness and ostentatious culture that hip-hop was.  When used in these lyrics, Busta Rhymes is saying how nobody is different when walking in a dark alley.  No matter what brand you are wearing, some neighborhoods don’t care about the status.  In fact, they could even be envious.  Regardless, do not trespass in a neighborhood you don’t belong in.  Nothing will keep you safe.