Billboard
With a business empire that spans from a record label to a Vitamin Water flavor of his own [Formula 50] to a comedy show, 50 Cent is the kind of mogul that most rappers can only brag about being. The Queens rapper recently made headlines, yet again, when he announced a venture with UberMedia. Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson teamed up with UberMedia to launch a customized Twitter theme for their Blackberry Application, UberSocial, titled "Uber50."
Founder and CEO of Violator and Brand Asset Group, and long time manager of 50 Cent, Chris Lighty, shared how the deal came to be with Billboard.com's The Juice, "It was during the period that Uber got locked out of Twitter and got fined. He [50] had to use a different app. He was one of them [going crazy] and one of the more vocal [ones.] Uber saw that and contacted us."
"Uber50" won't be the last time 50's businesses make headlines. 50 is venturing into nutrition yet again, this time with nutritional supplements, "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."
With a rekindled love for nutritional products springing from MTV's 'Jersey Shore,' 50 and Lighty couldn't have thought of a supplement deal at a better time. 50 has yet another connection with the 'Jersey Shore', specifically with member, Pauly D. It's been rumored that 50 wants to sign DJ Pauly D to G-Unit for a three-album deal. "That'd be interesting," Lighty says on the rumored Pauly D and 50 Cent collaboration. "It was talked about but we have to see how it all pans out."
While crossing t's and dotting i's on ventures, 50 stays steady in the lab working on his fifth studio album, yet to be titled. 50 and Lighty - who recently launched a site on which artists can submit their music directly to A&Rs handpicked by Lighty titled Please Listen to My Demo - have ideas geared towards the z generation when promoting 50's album. Similar to how Lady Gaga promoted "Born This Way," on FarmVille, Lighty says that both want to use an application of some sort when promoting his forthcoming album. "We're definitely working with Zynga to figure out what we can do inside their system whether it's single related or album related." Lighty says. "[Also], just how can we create our own app itself. In my opinion subscription is the key to our business but [it's] also who figures out [how] we press on the app and gets charged to everyone's phone bill, like when we press on an app and it gets charged to our credit card. As soon as we figure that out as a seamless sale, the music business has a definite new life line."
Follow Me on Facebook, Myspace and Twitter
}