Dr. Dre, Sentiments

Elvis brought ethnic music to the mainstream, helping part of a minority culture become part of the majority culture, a lesson of massive importance for brand managers and marketers. Until then, fashion, product, and consumer trends were assumed to trickle down from the upper classes to the lower classes. Rock and roll changed the sociology of marketing to a new model of product innovation and brand acceptance-the trickle up process of brand development. In today’s world of branding, everything from urban styles to slang words are trickling up to mainstream culture, following in the footsteps of their musical predecessor-rhythm and blues.

Today’s most relevant example is Eminem, the foul mouthed, white rapper who says things in his songs that most of us would never admit to thinking. The 30 year old prodigal son of Dr. Dre (one of the founding fathers of rap music) spews out sentiments of hate, homophobia, murder, gay sex, rape, and hating his mother. (If there are any additional disparaging topics you can name, he’s probably sung about them.) But ask critics and fans alike, and they’ll tell you his lyrics are a bit tongue in cheek, and if you really look behind the fa?ade of hate, you’ll see the humor in his words. Okay. The only person he seems to care for is his daughter, to whom he declares his devotion and love.

These sentiments touch a nerve with many of the kids who make up his fan base-kids who don’t have fathers and wish someone would love them as much as Eminem professes to love his daughter. His association with Dr. Dre has given him credibility in the hip hop community and has helped him craft a strong beat and musical sound, and his whiteness has let him connect with suburban kids-and, believe it or not, some of their parents.