A three-page article in the Sunday edition of the New York Times exposed the mainstream world to the hip-hop porn connection, noting porn collaborations by such marquee hip-hop names as Lil' John and the East Side Boyz, 50 Cent and G-Unit, Snoop Dogg, and Ice-T.
The article covered Video Team’s collaboration with Lil’ Jon for Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz American Sex Series, the initial volume of which was released last month.
“I’m hoping it will sell some videos in New York City,” Video Team’s Christian Mann told AVN.com. “We’re already in the process of working out some in-store appearances for Lil’ Jon in New York. One of the biggest markets of our product is the urban market, specifically in the North East, so getting exposure like this is great.
Mann notes that both the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times both have developed “porn beats.”
“They’re finding that it’s okay to cover adult entertainment as long as they don’t appear to praise it,” Mann said. “So now we’re getting neutral stories with an occasional barb thrown in so that it’s clear that editorially the paper isn’t supporting adult entertainment.
“But they wouldn’t have run the story if they didn’t think that a good portion of their readers would like to read about it,” Mann added.
In this article, the “barb” was exploring opportunities that might be lost by hip-hop artists by becoming associated with adult entertainment.
The core consumers for these artists are generally teenagers, people not old enough to buy adult entertainment, and the lucrative endorsements offered to these artists are by companies seeking to attract the teenage market – companies that might not want to be associated with adult entertainment.
Digital Sin’s deal with G-Unit for an interactive DVD, originally mistakenly hawked as a deal with 50 Cent, was brought up as a case in point.
On the O'Reilly Factor, right-wing pundit Bill O’Reilly has already questioned Reebok’s decision to market a 50 Cent tennis shoe despite his alleged relationship with Digital Sin.
O’Reilly previously questioned whether Pepsi should endorse Ludacris, a rapper whose lyrics are sexually charged. Pepsi ended up pulling ads featuring Ludacris, costing the performer residuals from the commercial.
50 Cent's manager, Chris Lighty, distanced 50 Cent from the Digital Sin project, telling the Times, "We're in the business of selling clothing and sneakers. We're going to have a $100 million business by the end of this year. This isn't something we're jeopardizing."
Brian Leach, vice president of the urban music division of TVT Records, Lil Jon's label, suggested that Lil’ Jon’s foray into adult would actually help solidify his fan base, proving to them that he isn’t selling out. Four songs that Lil’ Jon produced are currently in the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart – an incredible feat that place Lil’ Jon at a risk of overexposure.
"You have this audience that's wondering if he's still theirs," Leach said. "These videos say, 'I still belong to you.' "
In fact, TVT is planning to put out “Too Crunk for TV," a Lil’ Jon version of Girls Gone Wild.
Of course, adult entertainment has more than street cred to offer hip-hop artists. If a tape sells more than 100,000 copies as both of Snoop Dogg’s partnerships with Hustler Video did, that artist can earn more than a million dollars.
