Why the Beer and Rap Industries Are the Same

By Joseph Barry on July 10, 2013

Beer and rap music: arguably two of the most important things to college aged students and older are their music and alcoholic beverages. Older generations may prefer nice wine along with classical music, classic rock, etc. However, for college students, usually beer and rap will do the trick. It may be surprising, but one might say that the two industries have more in common than meets the eye. I’ll break it down.

The Over-Advertised Product That Everyone Knows…but Isn’t That Good 

When you ask people to name a beer, a majority of people will likely name one of the following: Budweiser (or Bud Light,) Miller Lite, or Coors Light. It is also no coincidence that these four beers are the highest grossing among domestics in the United States. A good argument for why is because they are the most heavily advertised. When is the last time you saw a beer commercial on TV that wasn’t for one of these four? (Before you say Blue Moon, keep in mind that they are owned by Coors.) These beer giants have, to some degree, oligopolized the beer game, as shown in this list by the Huff Post. However, just because they are bringing in the most money does not automatically make their products good beer. They just have the biggest budget to advertise. This is very similar with the marketing of rap music as well. The rap played on the radio (especially on Top 40 stations, but still somewhat true on rap specific stations) as well as the top 10 songs on iTunes is usually not the best rap, but is the music of the most famous rappers. Just because Lil Wayne has a good marketing team, for example, doesn’t mean he has the best music out there; however, he has become a brand, iconic when you think of rap today, and has been very successful. A friend of mine once said, “Lil Wayne is the rap people listen to who don’t normally listen to rap.” I thought this perfectly sums up what Wayne is. He’s always going to be in the top 10 when he releases new singles and albums, but true fans of rap know that he really is not that great. I’m not saying that if you hear Jay-Z or Eminem on the radio, it is automatically bad; I just think the world could do with a little less Nicki Minaj. This is the same with true beer fans regarding Bud Light, Miller Lite, and Coors Light. They would never drink something so cheap and tasteless, saving their money and calories for something a little more upscale.

 The Up-And-Coming…but Still Not Famous 

Here is the middle of the pack: people at least somewhat in tune with your industry will know you and often prefer you. However, you are not famous famous, just famous in your industry. Beers like Blue Moon, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, and Stella Artois would be examples that fall under this category. I would call these mainstream “nice” beers. They are definitely a step up from Budweiser, but some beer experts may still stay away. Still, overall, they are very solid beers. Also, not a huge amount of people know about them. While at a bar in Michigan, my cousin asked the bartender if they had Sierra Nevada. Her response? “I’ve never heard of that one.” Sierra Nevada is a relatively well-known beer that is only getting more popular; for a bartender not to know it is quite surprising. Then there are rappers like A$AP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, A$AP Ferg and Danny Brown. If you are a big rap fan, I’d say you’ve heard of all four of these guys, at least hearing them featured in a song or two. If you’re just a casual fan that gets your rap from the radio, you may have heard of A$AP Rocky, and that’s an outside shot. These guys are very talented, putting out better music than anything I’ve heard on a Top 40 station in a long while. They are the craft beers of the rapping world: only purest know them.

Despite being well know to hardcore rap fans, Ferg (left) and Rocky have a while to go before they are considered “huge”

The Completely Unknown Crafts

In the worlds of both beer and rap, brewers and rappers must make a name for themselves. It takes passion and a tireless work ethic. Rappers usually get their starts by playing shows for free along with releasing mixtapes for free on sites like DatPiff. Brewers spend years perfecting a brew and will usually enter their creation in beer competitions. As you read this article now, up-and-comers in each profession are working hard right now to perfect their craft.

 

 

 

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