Clipse x Triple Fat Goose. Clipse and their clothing line Play Cloths have teamed up with Triple Fat Goose for this limited jacket that can be seen in their latest video “Popular Demand” (see video here). The jacket will retail for $300 and can be pre-ordered now. Make sure to get on it quick though because only 200 were made in production.

Similar to Pharrell’s BBC/Ice Cream business model, Clipse has been able to turn their Play Cloths into a successful clothing line by limiting production and distribution costs but maintaining high profit margins on their apparel. In return, they have been able to focus their efforts on quality product and partnerships rather than mass produced cheap looking street wear. Via: HighSnobiety

Even though the 50 Cent exec produced documentary Two Turntables and A Microphone: The Life and Death of Jam Master Jay is included in 50 Cent’s deluxe version of Before I Self Destruct, you can actually just buy the documentary by itself on December 1st. 50 Cent and crew have actually sold off the distribution rights to Image Entertainment when it hits DVD. You can pre order now at Amazon.

So even though 50 might have only sold 120K+ units of his album, at least he is making money selling off distribution rights to his other properties. Unfortunately there are no takers for his Before I Self Destruct movie to be sold as a separate DVD…at least not yet. Check the new official trailer after the jump…

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Every time I see these types of interviews of artists talking about their marketing and branding I can’t help but get more excited about how fare we have come in this game. Just a couple of years ago, hearing about big time, legit news networks asking hip-hop artists about marketing and branding would have been big news.

Now…the branding power of music is with hip-hop and news networks are taking notice. Here is a great interview of Calvin Broadus with CNBC talking about his branding and marketing strategy of Snoop Dogg.

Wyclef x T-Mobile. Just a couple of years ago the only cell phone carrier that would dare partner with a urban music artist was Boost Mobile. Now, we are seeing major carriers partner up with hip-hop and urban music artists as the smart phone wars are taken to the next level in time for the Holiday season.

Carriers are trying to push their “cool” image to the consumer through these partnerships which include Ciara and Verizon for their new LG Chocolate ad campaign (see TV ad here), Naughty by Nature for the Microsoft HTC Phone and now T-Mobile and Wyclef Jean have teamed for the new T-Mobile myTouch ad campaign. Check out the the TV ad campaign above. So who will come out the winner of this holiday season’s smart phone wars? Expect Apple to come in with a big ad campaign after Thanksgiving…hopefully NOT with the Black Eyed Peas.

Ice Cube x Forbes. Hmmm so this is one Forbe’s list that actors DON’T want to be on. Every year Forbe’s takes the 100 biggest stars in Hollywood and calculates who is the most overpaid. To qualify, each actor had to have starred over the last five years in at least three movies that opened in more than 500 theaters.

Forbe’s then calculated a return-on-investment number for each star by dividing total operating income on the three films by the star’s total compensation, including up-front salaries and earnings from DVD and TV sales. Unfortunately Ice Cube made the list at #5 which isn’t that bad where you have Will Ferrell at #1 and Eddie Murphy at #4.

If they can use iPods as college text books then why not bring in the PSP to teach your class the art of beat making? Timbaland’s “Beaterator” beat making game is being used by music production and DJing educational institute Dub Spot to teach students the basic principles of music theory and composition.

The highly experienced instructors from Dubspot help navigate students through Beaterator’s interface while providing tips for beat-making and highlighting the basic principles and terminology associated with music creation.  By the end of the course, students are able to construct a beat from scratch using drumkits and melodies and layer their own vocals over their unique beat.

Damn. That’s one class I wish they had when I went to college. Let’s see…organic chemistry or beat making? Touch choice. Via: The Koalition