Rappers Used to Sell the Booze. Now They Own It.
February 28, 2025 at 05:15AMMoët and Cristal used to be mainstays of hip-hop lyrics, with aspirational MCs flaunting the good life. Now, those same artists are putting their mouth where their money is—and owning brands that compete directly with those that once turned up their nose at a rapper’s cosign. For Taste, Abe Beame goes beyond the trend to sketch a compelling portrait of the artist as a mogul.
It is fitting that the big bang for rapper-booze entrepreneurship was a perfect illustration of the blatant disrespect—if not outright contempt—major corporations had for the hip-hop community and the millions of dollars hip-hop fans pump into their companies annually. In 2006, Frédéric Rouzaud, the president of Louis Roederer, was asked whether hip-hop’s attraction to his product could be detrimental to the brand. “That’s a good question, but what can we do? We can’t forbid people from buying it. I’m sure Dom Pérignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business,” he said.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2025/02/27/rappers-used-to-sell-the-booze-now-they-own-it/
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