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#hip-hop
Birdman Gives Away a Rolls-Royce and Two Bentleys
Defining the one percent is messy math business that we’re far from doing, but maybe you can reach this stellar status by demonstrating your wealth through gifts.
If that is the case, hip hop entertainer Birdman certainly made the cut in the video below where he gave away a Rolls-Royce Ghost and Bentley Mulsanne — along with a second Bentley that he kept for himself.
If you aren’t up to date on the world of ultra-luxury cars, here’s a quick rundown.
The Bentley Mulsanne launched in 2010 and is the company’s sedan, sporting a 6.75-liter twin-turbo V8 making 505 horsepower and 753 fl-lbs of torque. You can choose to enjoy that power behind the wheel, though at the $290,000 starting price some people may prefer just to pay a chauffeur. Little Wayne got the Mulsanne, while Birdman’s brother and business partner Ronald “Slim” Williams walked away the happy new owner of a Rolls-Royce Ghost.
The Ghost starts at $380,000, and packs 563 horsepower and 575 ft-lbs of torque. Realistically, people buying these cars aren’t all that concerned with the power specs. Badges and emblems emblazoned on the body and throughout the vehicle mean more to status symbols than big power numbers. The interiors ain’t bad either.
Either car offers a splendid example of what it feels like to swim in fine leather and rich wood. Ferris Beuller said it best, “It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.” Of course in that movie he’s referring to a Ferrari 250 GT California, but the words still ring true.
If you’ve been scratching your head over these names, this “Lil Wayne”, Ronald “Slim” Williams and a grown man who walks around calling himself “Birdman”, you probably don’t have a taste for rap music.
The three men referred to above are responsible for Cash Money Records, the label behind some of today’s pop icons like Drake, Nicki Minaj, T-Pain and among others, the predator look-a-like himself: Lil Wayne. Know then or not, the first guy in the video is Birdman and these cars cost him a total of well over $1 million so he must be doing something right.
You can watch the video below.
Acura NSX Featured In Frank Ocean's New Music Video
Cars like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Ferrari F430 and Cadillac Escalade tend to be the standard rap video vehicles, but independent R&B artist Frank Ocean, a mega-talented R&B singer with a lot of internet buzz, tends towards the enthusiast end of the spectrum.
The album art for his record Nostalgia, Ultra features an orange BMW M3 from the early 1990s, and his newest video, for the hauntingly beautiful song Acura Integurl features not just one but two modified Acura NSXs carving through canyon roads. Considering Ocean’s love of cars that are oriented towards “Go” rather than “Show” we’re pleasantly surprised at his choice, but support it wholeheartedly. The only thing missing are the actual engine noises, which would nicely compliment his pitch perfect vocals.
Video after the jump
Dr. Dre Crashes Ferrari While Filming New Video
Dr. Dre’s long awaited new album Detox has had more false starts than the Toyota FT-86, but the legendary hip-hop producer has finally released a single, titled I Need A Doctor. If you like hip-hop music, you’ve doubtlessly heard the song by now, but you might not have seen the video, which involves a horrific crash involving a Ferrari 360 Modena.
The intro to the video has Dre driving the 360 along some twisty mountain roads while reflecting on his earlier rap career, followed by the Doc losing control of the car and crashing violently. While the crash scene is pivotal to the entire video, we were a little surprised that the crash was real, and not done via CGI or any other method. Then again, with video budgets reaching higher and higher, a used 360 is probably a fraction of what it costs to put together the actual video.
[Source: Carscoop]
Behind the scenes video after the jump
2011 Jeep Wrangler Gets Its Own Rap Song – It's Awful
The undisputed king of automotive-themed rap songs is Rick Ross, whose “Maybach Muzik 2” and “Aston Martin Muzik” have provided back to back bangers for hip-hop junkies who also like six-figure whips.
At the bottom of the scale we have a gentleman named C.KhiD, an up and coming rapper who didn’t take the advice of countless fore-bearers and “keep it real”. Instead, he joined in a horrible collaboration with Jeep to create “2011 Jeep Wrangler Music”. While only one of Autoguide’s staff is into hip-hop, we could smell a rat immediately, and it only took one listen for us to declare the song as “worse than the Sebring “.
This type of marketing is so transparently uncool that it will probably turn off anyone who comes into contact with the song. Even more astonishing is that Jeep sponsored this guy for a tour (according to the press release below) but Jay-Z’s one line in “On To The Next One”, where he talks about how he “bought a Jeep, tore the m*********ing doors off” probably did more for the brand than any youth-oriented marketing campaign ever could.
[Source: Jeep]
Video and press release after the jump
Rick Ross Takes Product Placement To Next Level With "Aston Martin Music"
Hip-hop has picked up where Rock & Roll left off as America’s favorite music genre, and the automobile has assumed its rightful place within the culture, in the same way that it did during the heyday of The Beach Boys and other acts of the 1960’s.
If you think about it, rap music’s influence on the automobile is even more profound than rock. Where would Cadillac be today if it weren’t for the Escalade’s appearance in every single rap video? Rappers are taste makers, and while they certainly know what they like (how else do you explain donks), the newest single from Rick Ross and Drake, titled Aston Martin Music, seems a bit more contrived than the average overwrought music video.
The video shows Rick Ross smoking marijuana, letting his girlfriend take the rap for serious drug charges and relaxing in the beach with R&B singer Drake, a couple Aston Martins, and some female companions. We’re not sure if Aston Martin sanctioned the use of their cars or not, but Bugatti promised that no rappers would ever get their hands on a Veyron, and one of the worst MC’s in the game managed to get a brand new example.
[Source: Youtube]
Rap Mogul Birdman Takes Delivery Of All Red Bugatti Veyron (Video Inside NSFW Language)
Birdman, sometime rapper and full time president of the appropriately named Cash Money Records (the record label and home to superstar rappers like Drake, Lil Wayne, Bow Wow and Nicki Minaj) recently celebrated his staggering wealth by taking delivery of a $2.5 million Bugatti Veyron at a Dade County low-income housing area.
Birdman, who is known for his love of red cars due to his self-proclaimed affiliations with the Bloods, ordered his Veyron in a predictable red-on-red color scheme with a special red key. Birdman arrived for the delivery wearing an entirely red outfit, and unleashed a string of unintelligible profanities boasting of the superiority of his record labels, his automobile collection, the color red and his status as a wealthy African-American entrepreneur.
If you have an interest in hip-hop, this video is a must see, if only to listen to Birdman’s incoherent babbling as he finally reaches the much lauded “baller status”. Rapper Lil Wayne is also known to have a silver Bugatti, and the close relationship between Birdman and Lil’ Wayne will no doubt be strengthened by their acquisition of these fine automobiles.
[Source: Nah Right]
Hip-Hop Ode To The Tesla Roadster Makes Soulja Boy Sound Good
Los Angeles based rapper J Brave describes himself as an “MC, poet, activist for peace, and visionary…”, so we can understand why he would shun Maybachs and Bentleys in his lyrics in favor of the eco-friendly, uber-liberal chariot known as the Tesla Roadster.
Unfortunately for J Brave, his rap song “Dippin In My Tesla” doesn’t quite have the same vibe as other odes to automotive related conspicuous consumptio n. Songs like those are all about escapism, letting you step out of your 1997 Nissan Altima and into a world where your ride costs more than your house. Saving the planet isn’t a common fantasy for most hip-hop heads (at least not in the green sense). We’ll let you be the judge of the artistic merits.
[Source: Autoblog]
Hit the jump to see J Brave’s video for “Dippin In My Tesla”
Kia Soul Hamsters Return With Hip-Hop Themed Spot
Regular readers will recall a fondness for hip-hop music at the Autoguide offices. We’ve previously covered the Houston “swangas” phenomenon, Seattle’s Volvo driving rapper and Atlanta’s dubbed-out Camaros. Now, Kia is showing the East Coast some love, with their new commercial featuring their familiar Hamsters, the Kia Soul, and Black Sheep’s seminal anthem The Choice Is Yours.
The video is shot with a gritty, New York-esque background, and if it weren’t for the cute and furry hamsters, it could actually be a pretty decent music video, with requisite scenes on the basketball court, cruising with the homeys, getting a line-up at the barbershop, and ritzy Park Avenue types staring with disapproving glances at the young hoodlum hamsters. Along the way, the Hamsters reference the song’s hook, by presenting various “boring” econo-car options (represented by a toaster, washing machine and cardboard box), or the neon green Kia Soul. Ostensibly, these options represent offerings from Toyota and Honda, but whoever dreamed up the ad forgot about the hamster’s true vehicle of choice, the Zhu Zhu pet car (which looks strangely like a British sports car).
Hit the jump for Kia’s newest Hamster ad.
[Souce: Autoblog]
Young Jeezy Releases Ode To Chevy Camaro
Southern rap has always had an affinity for Chevrolet sedans, but recently, muscle cars have been making a steady resurgance, with the Dodge Challenger and Charger leading the way.
"Ridin Swangas" Video Full Of Front-Wheel Drive GM Goodness (Video Inside)
This author has loved hip-hop music since the tender age of 3, when Digital Underground’s “ The Humpty Dance” caught my attention. I didn’t really understand the lyric “I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom” but it had a fat bassline and a character from a nursery rhyme, and that was enough for me.
In the same way that rock and roll groups mythologized American muscle in the 1960’s, rappers have taken to lionizing the automobile in all its forms, whether it’s an East Coast rapper like Jay-Z rapping about Maybachs or Jaguars, or Snoop Dogg cruising through Long Beach, California in one of his famous 1964 Impalas.
Recently, the Southern United States has had a stranglehold on the hip-hop scene, and their love of American muscle has seen a resurgence of interest in rear-drive American cars. For those with money, a new Dodge Charger or a classic muscle car is the must have ride. But not everyone can afford a new car, and so ordinary folk turn to cars like the Chevrolet Caprice, Mercury Grand Marquis or 1980’s G-Body General Motors cars and customize them with cartoonish 24inch rims and custom lift kits.
As with any fashion-driven culture, huge chrome rims are now out of style, and the new trend is “ swangas“, the street term of wire wheels from a 1983 or 1984 Cadillac. Since the wheels were made for a rear-drive offset, they tend to poke out on many of the front-drive vehicles that are affordable to young people, like Oldsmobile 98s, Cadillac Devilles or Buick Park Avenues. While automotive purists may scoff, the “poke” aesthetic is a signature look of the “swanga” movement.
Houston rap group “Block Boyz Click” released a video, imaginatively titled “Ridin Swangas”, and the song is a decent, if amateurish attempt to capture the slowed-down, soulful styles of fellow Houstonians UGK, the video is chock full of truly ghetto American iron that should have been consigned to the junkyard long ago. Aside from the aforementioned cars, sharp eyes will also spot a Chrysler LHS, Buick LeSabre and Pontiac Bonneville.
The artistic merits of the song may be a matter of opinion, but we happened to enjoy the use of some under-appreciated Rick Wagoner-era General Motors machinery, rather than having the (rented) supercar du jour being driven at a snails pace, with a blinged-out hand gripping the wheel at 12 o’clock. Long live the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the Dirty South. Keep swangin on ’em, H-Town. Check out the official video after the jump.
[Source: Cardomain blog]
