Rappers treat brand mentions in lyrics as speculative investments paid off later

Evidence

A pertinent example, the cognac Courvoisier received its biggest promotion in the form of a hit song in 2002, “Pass the Courvoisier Part II,” by Busta Rhymes, Diddy, and Pharrell Williams. Featuring the brand in the title, the heavily repeated chorus, and the music video, the song is considered to have helped raise sales of Courvoisier by 20 percent. A clear example of speculation, Busta Rhymes didn’t get paid to write the song, but Russell Simmons’s advertising agency dRush had just established a relationship with the advertising agency that marketed Courvoisier. Once the song rose to No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, Busta Rhymes was awarded a promotional deal. Examples such as these, dating back to Run-DMC’s song “My Adidas” in 1986, which resulted in a million-dollar endorsement contract after the song’s rise in popularity, are why entrepreneurial hip hop artists and associates use rap lyrics as speculative enterprises. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 343

Categorization

• XREF: Demonstrates speculative brand placement flowing backward — an example of how commercial embeddedness precedes and structures artistic content, relevant to tracing finance-to-form causation.