Sandrasays
50 Cent has branded himself as mogul; still focused in on his music, but also dabbling in miscellaneous business ventures. 50 Cent has a lot of business deals on his belt, including Vitamin Water’s Formula 50 and more recently, his very own theme for the Twitter-based Blackberry App, ÜberSocial called Über50.
His involvement with ÜberMedia stemmed from a time when the ÜberSocial had been suspended for a short amount of time due to complaints from the the social networking site, Twitter. 50 was one of the most verbal when this happened and before we knew it, Über50 was born.
However, it doesn’t stop there. In an inteview with Billboard, his manager Chris Lighty commented on 50’s newest business endorsement ventures:
“We’re working on a new supplement company. We’re going to build new supplements cause it’s a big opportunity like Vitamin Water was. We want to market and promote it when we put out 50’s album. There are different options of penetration for supplements through music; like going to GNC [for] protein shakes, vitamins, [etc.]. No beverage. When you go to a vitamin shop, there’s no one of pop culture [representing], it’s mostly muscle heads. We’ll cut through the clutter with 50 in the store saying, “You want to be 10% of me so take what I’m taking.”
In the midst of his supplement endorsements, he just recently polishes up his fifth studio album, which still is untitled. Lighty explained that 50 Cent wants to launch a site that predominately appeals to artists in “Z” generation looking to submit music directly to A&Rs called Please Listen To My Demo. Somehow 50 plans intends to use this opportunity to cosign on new artists and simultaneously promote his album.
Inspired by Lady Gaga’s invasion of Farmville, 50 Cent is interested in doing something quite similar to promote his upcoming album. Lighty has confirmed that: “We’re definitely working with Zynga to figure out what we can do inside their system whether it’s single related or album related.”
Okay, we get it. 50 Cent is officially a business man (just in case, you refused to acknowledge earlier). However sometimes I wonder if his decisions are more impulsive than delicately measured, i.e. Sleek Headphones. He definitely is down with putting his name of products, but is there more to it?
I don’t know if 50 Cent is using his feverish passion for becoming a business man is a way for him to stay relevant. If that’s the case, Curtis needs a different approach. When it’s all said and done, no one really cares about vitamin supplements and the people playing Farmville. Those outlets may generate him revenue, but that doesn’t neccesarily translate into revenue.
