Dr. Dre x Best Buy. Dr. Dre continues to make ground breaking moves, but this time it doesn’t have to do with his music production. In a revolutionary partnership, Dre and Best Buy have announced they will be creating an in-store retail space endorsed by Dre called “Club Beats” which will showcase and sell DJ equipment, mixing software, turntables, laptops and plenty of Beats by Dre headphones. To help promote the new Club Beats, Best Buy will host VIP events with Dre, Lady Gaga and Will.I.Am. No coincidence they are all Interscope artists as the deal was brokered by Jimmy Iovine.

According to Billboard, seven stores will feature a full “experiential” Club Beats area, with a spectrum of products while 300 stores will features an “interactive” area, with similar options but slightly fewer products to try out. All remaining stores will include a “core” Club Beats area, with a product selection, merchandising signage and customer service assistance but less of a focus on interactivity.

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Ciara x LG. Ciara has signed on as the new official spokesperson for the upcoming Verizon LG Chocolate ad campaign. Ciara’s image, music and persona will all be used in print and TV campaigns targeting females 13-24 in hopes of increasing their share with the young adult female market. Here is the newest ad currently running on national TV programming.

Wale x Commonwealth. Wale has teamed up with DC street wear shop Commonwealth for the release of his album Attention Deficit which drops tomorrow. Wale will do an in-store appearance where Commonwealth will be selling these limited edition Wale t-shirts. Via: NahRight

Wyclef Jean x Western Union Gift Cards, Western Union established a strategic alliance with Wyclef Jean to promote West Union Money Transfer and prepaid services to consumers in the United States. The company kicked off their “Random Acts of Giving” holiday campaign by making a $225,000 donation to Wyclef’s organization Yele Haiti to support education projects.

“I am extremely proud to be part of the Western Union family,” said Wyclef Jean. “For years I have trusted Western Union to help manage my money-transfer needs worldwide. Now consumers can trust them to serve their cash gifting needs through a new prepaid Visa gift card.”

Western Union also held a “Lunchtime Jam Session” featuring Wyclef at the Nokia Theater in New York City to promote his EP with DJ Drama “From the Hut, To the Projects, To the Mansion”. To purchase the gift card go to westernunion.com/wyclef

Here is the official trailer to 2 Turntables and A Microphone: The Life and Death of Jam Master Jay. This is the documentary that will be packaged with 50 Cent’s Before I Self Destruct deluxe album which also includes the Before I Self Destruct movie.

So buy the deluxe album and you get the 50 Cent movie and you get the Jam Master Jay movie. 50 Cent also has exec producer credits on 2 Turntables so he will be making a profit off any sales.

50 graces the cover of XXL again in the Dec/January double issue. The issue will also contain XXL’s list of the 100 Best Hip-Hop Web sites which is sure to cause some internet blogger drama. There are two covers to the issue with 50…other one after the jump.

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KRS-One x Gospel of Hip Hop. KRS-One will preach the word of his 800 page book “Gospel of Hip Hop” to the state of New York with a book tour. Yup that’s right….800 pages of hip-hop philosophy will be shared in New York and New Jersey. Book tour as scheduled:

11/09/2009 · Barnes & Noble · Tribeca, NYC · 97 Warren Street · 7 p.m. Reading/Signing
11/10/2009 · Barnes & Noble · Livingston, NJ · 112 Eisenhower Parkway · 7 p.m. Reading/Signing
11/11/2009 · Hue-Man Bookstore · Harlem, NYC · 2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd · 6 p.m. Reading/Signing
11/12/2009 · Barnes & Noble · Clifton, NJ · 395 Route 3 East · 7:30 p.m. Reading/Signing

Lately, book deals have become an alternate source of income for artists as their philosophies (ahem RZA’s “Tao of Wu”) or life story like Trick Daddy’s upcoming “Magic City” book call for broader appeal than just the music. Any one who reads all 800 pages of “Gospel of Hip Hop” though get at me and I’ll make sure to give big props to you on the site. Via: HipHopDX

written by Edwin St. Fort

The success of The Blueprint 3 is highly credited to the marketing campaign behind it and to Jay-Z’s loyal fan base. Despite the album being leaked on the internet prior to its official release, The Blueprint 3 sold 476,000 copies in its first week of sales. The achievement help Jay-Z pass Elvis Presley to become the second artist with more No.1 albums in the 50 year history of the Billboard 200. The second week of sales resulted in 301,000 copies being sold dominating the Billboard #1 spot for two weeks straight. A month and a half later, Mr. Carter goes platinum selling nearly 1.3 million copies.

Let’s recap the blueprint to the  marketing campaign that resulted in successful results. The key features to this campaign were strategic partnerships and media coverage. The release became more of an event rather than just another album on the shelf. It built anticipation and sustained momentum unlike many previous releases. To begin the buzz Jay-Z released “D.O.A” creating controversy to obtain the attention of listeners to usher in the following events.

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