Although the Cognac liquor community is split on their feelings of T.I.’s partnership with Remy Martin, traditionalists might be surprised at the amount of power the Cognac company has handed over to him with the official role of Global Creative Consultant. That’s right…not only will T.I. be an official endorser of the Cognac but he will have input in the majority of Remy Martin’s lifestyle marketing campaigns including promotions, merchandising and digital media.

“I’ve been a fan of Rémy Martin for many years so I’m honored to be working with them as creative consultant.  And now after my trip to Cognac, I admire the brand’s genius even more. I’m excited about all the possibilities of this partnership,” stated T.I. in the official press release.

“T.I. is a powerful voice in the entertainment world as a recording artist, actor and producer. And Rémy Martin recognizes the similarities between the art of producing fine cognacs and blending music and words to create hit songs,” said Lamar Johnson, Director of Marketing and Branded Entertainment, Rémy Cointreau USA, Inc. “We are very pleased to partner with T.I. to build upon our successful ‘Things are Getting Interesting’ marketing campaign.”

According to the press release, as part of the partnership deal Rémy Martin will help T.I expand his K.I.N.G. Foundation by providing funds to the non-profit, which helps low income families through a variety of community-oriented programs. The next major project for T.I. and Rémy Martin will be to market and promote a new signature blend of the premium brand Rémy Martin V.S.O.P., which the rapper developed on a trip to the company’s headquarters.

Jeweler to the stars Jacob the Jeweler confirms that Kanye West bought his new Horus chain for a nice $300K. Jacob created the custom-made link chain depicting Egyptian god Horus, as well as a four-finger pyramid ring, for Kanye’s comeback performance during the BET Awards last weekend. Both the chain and ring are made of 24k yellow gold. Maybe the special Egyptian powers of Horus will help Kanye actually launch that Pastelle clothing line.

The folks over at RapRadar had a really interesting sit down with David Banner about working with Corporate America and the challenges that come along with it. Banner has been doing big things with his Gatorade ad which he produced the music to and is set for a future endorsement deal with Motorola.

You can also check out Mr. Banner doing his movie thing in the upcoming Direct-to-DVD sequel Stomp the Yard: Homecoming (see trailer).

To hit Gold these days on your first week is a rarity in the music industry but somehow Eminem almost made his way to Platinum. The unofficial Week 1 numbers have come in for Recovery and they are off the chart at 753,870 units sold. This is much higher than earlier projections which had it pegged for the 650K range.

While these Week 1 numbers will best his last album, Relapse, which did 608K for the first week, Eminem will be just behind AC/DCs  “Black Ice” which did 784,000 its first week back in 2008.

And here is another episode of Ciroc’s “Smooth Talk With Diddy” as part of their latest marketing campaign. Earlier episode here.

Despite what you might read from other sites that are just getting around to RZA’s martial arts flick Wu-Tang vs. The Golden Phoenix (see trailer and behind-the-scenes), we can confirm that it is not getting a theatrical release. RZA’s plans were to release this film as a celebration of his twenty years in hip-hop. While there will potentially be private screenings held in major cities, there will not be a traditional studio backed release to the film. I’m sure he will make it available online or through DVD though. Maybe he can get some tips from 50 Cent.

The GOOD NEWS though is that RZA is focusing more on his $20 million budget Universal Pictures backed film Man With The Iron Fist. Barring a total disaster, Universal will release the film theatrically with a major marketing campaign. Filming begins in September in Hong Kong.

As we mentioned a couple weeks back, Wyclef is a new spokesperson for Ritz Crackers. Yea it’s a pretty unlikely partnership but money is money. Wyclef both stars in the new ad campaign called “Block Party” and produced the music. Effective campaign? You decide.

Eminem will have the highest selling album of the year and he gets to guest appear on the hottest show on cable TV. This pic is taken from the set of “Entourage” where they are already filming the Season 7 finale. According to EW, Eminem shot a scene that takes place “at a platinum record party for his album, which by the time this airs will be platinum, I’m sure,” says Entourage creator Doug Ellin, adding: “He has a little conflict—a little beef—with Vince [Adrian Grenier].” The finale is set to air September 12th. Via: RR