The Rap Of Luxury

For luxury brands, the free ride may be ending, as hip-hop personalities begin pitching their own prestige offerings. Steve Stout, an influential executive with Interscope Records, is introducing a brand of $40 cigars, Vino Platinum, next month. Meanwhile, Jay-Z and his partners have acquired a European vodka, Armadale. They decided to get into the liquor business after sensing that Jay-Z provided a big boost to Belvedere, a pricey vodka, by mentioning it in several hit songs. Damon Dash, CEO of Roc-A-Fella Records and one of Jay-Z's partners, says, "We were making everyone else so much money. You won't see any more Belvedere in our videos."

Russell Simmons, the cofounder of Def Jam, has invested in Grimoldi, an obscure luxury Italian watchmaker. Recently, Simmons hosted a party for the watch, which sells for $1,500 to $32,000 at the New York retailer Tourneau. Among the guests: hip-hop star Wyclef Jean and top model May Anderson. Already, the brand is "selling very strong with the hip-hop segment," says Tourneau marketing director Andrew Block. "Russell wearing it is the kind of product placement you couldn't pay for."

If the line between art and commerce wasn't blurry enough, consider this: some record labels may soon try to charge brands for a starring role in songs and videos. Lyor Cohen, Island Def Jam's top operating executive and Simmons's longtime partner, is working with HP Media, a product-placement company, to explore such deals. Clearly, many squeamish luxury brands may be relieved because presumably they could steer clear of the hip-hop community altogether. But Cohen says the rappers have the leverage. Brands like Burberry "will suffer if they don't," Cohen says. "You think Ja Rule would have rapped about Izod if I said this little alligator is going to pay you some scrilla [cash] and help you with the video that you have to pay for? I think he would have." Says Ja Rule: "I wouldn't ask for money. It's not their fault that I'm a celebrity, that I like their clothes and people follow [my style]." Then again, the Izod alligator logo might be a better fit for Jay-Z, who could tuck it into a remix of his hit song "H to the Izzo." After all, if it doesn't sound good, nothing will sell.

© 2002