Hip-Hop Saves Alcohol Industry
Hip-hop fans: 'I'll have what he's having'
Rappers sell more than just their CDs
Published on: 05/22/04
Linda Rathke/AJC STAFF
"Yea, yea, yea just pass the Courvoisier," Sean "P. Diddy" Combs intoned in a 2002 hit song written by fellow hip-hop star Busta Rhymes.
And America was listening. Sales of the pricey French cognac shot up nearly 30 percent that year, helping pull the 300-year-old French industry back from the brink of disaster.
Busta Rhymes made French distillers very happy with his 2002 hit 'Pass the Courvoisier.' Sales of the expensive brand of cognac, the spirit favored by Napoleon, shot up nearly 30 percent that year.
More recently, champagne sales have surged as rappers celebrated premium brands in songs like "Rotten Apple," in which 50 Cent boasted of "teachin' the hoodrats what Cristal taste like."
High-priced liquor has been considered "cool" by generations of African-Americans, but marketers have learned that today's rappers can make or break their products through their influence over America's young consumers.
The music drives all kinds of merchandise, from clothes to cars, in a market estimated by Black Enterprise magazine at $5 billion a year, so it's no surprise that global companies are keen to tap into a loyal fan base made up mostly of those in the highly prized 18-24 age group.
A study by New Media Strategies, a research company in Washington, revealed that 60 percent of consumers who consider themselves hip-hop fans said they were more likely to see films or buy products if they featured — or were peddled by — their favorite artist.
According to New Media, Reebok's S. Carter Collection by rapper Jay-Z became the fastest-selling sneaker in company history.
"Hip-hop as a culture is generally about people on the margins, disenfranchised people like young blacks and Latinos of the inner city. Often they've not had an opportunity to succeed in life other than hip-hop, and when they do, they celebrate in very visible ways to show others how well they have done," said Todd Boyd, author of "Young Black Rich and Famous: The Rise of the NBA, the Hip-Hop Invasion, and the Transformation of American Culture."
Rejoicing in France
When hip-hop artists are celebrating, their fans are watching — and often imitating. And that's lifting the spirits of French distillers.
"Young African-American consumers in the United States have been very good for the cognac industry," said Claire Coates, a spokeswoman for the Cognac National Interprofessional Bureau, a trade association in Cognac, France.
Indeed, a few years ago the sleepy area around Cognac was in dire straits.
Cognac had been synonymous with luxury in Asia, which by the early 1990s was consuming half the world's supply of the high-end brandy. But sales plummeted when economic troubles beset the region and currency devaluations drove up the price of imports.
Fortunately for the cognac industry, artists such as Rhymes favored its product's smooth, complex flavors and potent alcoholic punch. As the strong Asian market unraveled — and sales in France fell to an all-time low — sales to America have tripled in the last decade, to more than 40 million bottles in 2003.
Although grape growers around Cognac are grateful, they're also somewhat bemused at how Napoleon's favorite drink has won over a new and very untraditional generation.
"I think people here have found it quite interesting to see the way this group drinks cognac all night long and mixes it with other beverages," Coates said.
Cognac was generally served neat or with ice, but now 60 percent of consumers mix it with something else, she said.
"In France, cognac is still mainly consumed as an after-dinner digestive, but Americans are mixing it with tonic, juice, or whatever they want to," Coates said.
She acknowledged that although cognac sales continue to grow within the hip-hop generation, they're not growing as fast as they once were.
Cristal bubbles to top
One reason is that the biggest entertainers have started rapping about another high-end product — champagne.
In particular, Cristal — which costs $150 to $600 depending on the vintage and bottle size — was invoked in hip-hop lyrics more often during the past year than any other beverage, according to American Brandstand, which tracks brands mentioned in the top singles on the Billboard chart for brand strategy company Agenda.
Experts say rappers are drawn to Cristal, produced by the centuries-old house of Louis Roederer, by its high price and lavish packaging, and its rarity — only a limited number of bottles are released each year.
"Champagne used to be known as something consumed mostly by older generations, but again, it's been used a lot in pop culture, and particularly in rap videos, and now cognac and champagne are both growing side by side," said Tiziana Mohorovic, research analyst at Adams Beverage Group in Norwalk, Conn.
But no trend lasts forever. So what drink will benefit next from a hip-hop shout-out? Some say it could be gin.
But that doesn't bother Courvoisier. Said Dave Karraker, a spokesman for Allied Domecq Spirits & Wine North America, owner of the Courvoisier brand, "We own the Beefeater brand as well."
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