The Fine Print: 50 Cent Runs For Office

Very interesting read, check it below.
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Article by: Jonathon “Bizz” Brown

There’s a lot that seems obvious about 50 Cent’s marketing techniques. He perpetuates conflict to generate interest and diversifies his brand like no one else. But The Fine Print of 50’s power is his ability to stay on message. Politicians learn the same technique during media training and use it in interviews. After analyzing a candidate’s strengths, his/her base priorities and deducing relevant subject matter, the politician steers his/her answers towards these premeditated talking points to best communicate his/her platform. Go watch a political interview and count how many times the question that’s asked is actually answered directly. Doesn’t always happen. Why? Because it is in a person’s interest to reiterate their own position on a few key points to create a clear persona and platform for voters to judge.

Now on to 50. When asked about Before I Self Destruct, he continously goes back to the same points.

• He’s returning to aggressive content.
• He’s contrasting the lighthearted hip hop around right now (thus positioning himself as a symbol you can buy into to oppose that trend).
• While others rap about the life they aspire to have, he raps about the painful pieces of life.
• He continuously draws comparisons to Get Rich Or Die Trying.
• He plays on the idea of a celebrity cycle in which the public builds you up to watch you fall later.

Now to continue to illustrate this point. What does 50 talk about when he’s talking down Rick Ross?

• Ross is fraudulent
• Ross doesn’t take care of his family
• Ross doesn’t plan things out as well as 50

And when commenting on Jay-Z recently?

• Jay-z has morphed into a “safe” persona (which is why Lil Mama jumped on stage)
• Jay-z feels like he’s above the competition of the culture
• Jay-z’ high brow approach is the binary to 50’s more refreshing ground floor riskiness

In each of his interviews – whether it be about his CD, defamating someone’s character, his new book – he hones in on a few key talking points and then circles those points in different ways at different times to convince you of his point of view. 50’s effective because he stays focused.

1. Beef – Rick Ross – Main Message – Rick Ross is a cop & a fraud
2. Beef – Ja Rule – Main Message – Ja Rule is a soft kid trying to act tough, I’m the real deal
3. Beef – Jay-z – Main Message – Jay-z is detached from hip hop culture
4. Beef – Game – Main Message – He’s below me, I helped create him
5. Beef – Buck – Main Message – He’s unstable, I had to get rid of him
6. Book – 50th Law – Main Message – Fear is nothing to 50 cent because of his experiences
7. CD – Get Rich Or Die Trying – Main Message – Shot 9 times, I’m as raw and controversial as they come.
8. CD – The Massacre – I’m still #1, you have no reason to doubt my creative abilities
9. CD – Curtis – I’m diversifying my sound and making event records.
10. CD – Before I Self Destruct – Return to aggressive content missing in hip hop.

And that my friends, is what the most convincing people/campaigns do. It’s not something 50 pioneered, or even something only he employs (Jay-z for instance was very on message about creating a “new classic” with BP3), but it is something he’s perfected. He not only states his point, he circles it long enough so you could state it for him. He rationalizes with his audience instead of telling them. Why do you think you never hear 50 say “f*ck Ja Rule,” “f*ck Jay-z,” “f*ck The Game?” Because that’s an inefficient method of garnering support. Imagine Obama abandoning his reasoning when explaining why he would be a better president. Nope, not going to happen. Instead, he stays on his talking points and in turn his followers are the ones more prone to saying “f*ck John McCain.”

That’s The Fine Print.
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Thoughts?