Calculating product placement in hip hop songs: CDZA's $56 million musical shopping spree

Xeni Jardin 7:41 am Wed Mar 27, 2013

How do you calculate the value of product placement in hip hop songs? Joe Sabia's CDZA ("Collective Cadenza") project on YouTube attempted to do just that, with a virtual 56 million dollar hip-hop shopping spree.

Their "Methodology for price determination" breakdown follows:

Prices were calculated based on current retail or market value, not resale value. For vehicles, values for the most part were selected from the high end of the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price range.

ELECTRONICS
Iyaz – Replay: 80GB Video iPod
Notorious B.I.G. – Juicy: Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis prices were from packaged and unopened items found on eBay
Chamillionaire – Ridin Dirty: We went with the PS1 price, even though Chamillionaire can probably afford a PS2.

HIGH END FASHION
Black Eyed Peas – My Humps: Went with average prices for a lot of these accessories
Macklemore – Thrift Shop: Yes mink fur coats can be this expensive

ACCESSORIES
Bruno Mars – The Lazy Song
Eminem – If I Had…: Nike Air Hat/Pair of Lugz
Nelly – Air Force Ones: We should have gotten white ones, sorry.
LMFAO – I'm in Miami Trick: Vans
Notorious B.I.G. – Mo Money Mo Problems – Rolex
Snoop Dogg – Drop it Like it's Hot: Went with a $9,100 rolex, even though they can be much more expensive. And a lower end bottle of Chandon at $109

BOOZE
LMFAO – I'm in Miami Trick: Red Bull and an affordable Smirnoff even though they would probably drink Grey Groose
Jagged Edge – Where the Party At: A fifth of Bacardi
50 Cent – In Da Club: A pint of Bacardi to sneak into the club
Busta Rhymes – Pass the Courvoisier: A less expensive type and size
Snoop Dogg – Gin and Juice: Seagram's Gin
Ke$ha – TiK ToK: Jack Daniel's
R. Kelly – Ignition Remix part 2: Got this empty bottle of magnum Cristal off of eBay for 25 bucks.

TRANSPORTATION
Sir Mix-a-Lot – I Like Big Butts: Mercedes E Class
Jay-Z – On to the Next One: Lexus and Range Rover
Far East Movement – Like a G6: CDZA doesn't provide items to rent. We only provide items to BUY.
Vanilla Ice – Ice, Ice Baby – Lamborghini

This edition of CDZA's weekly musical experiments features Mark, Todd and Stasia from the Key of Awesome.

Related: CDZA merch, and an MP3 download, neither of which cost $56 million.

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