Left of Black S2:E12 | The Tanning of America and the Branding of Hip-Hop

Left of Black S2:E12

The Tanning of America and the Branding of Hip-Hop

w/ Steve Stoute

November 28, 2011

Left of Black host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal is joined by Steve Stoute, author of  The Tanning of America - How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy and founder and chief creative officer of Translation Consultation + Brand Imaging.   Neal and Stoute discuss Hip-Hop Culture’s ascent into the mainstream as well as signature advertising campaigns that he worked on for McDonald’s (“I’m Lovin’ It”) and Hewlett-Packard (“Hands”).  Finally Stoute suggests ways that President Barack Obama might re-brand himself for the 2012 election.

The conversation was recorded with a live studio audience on October 19, 2011 at the John Hope Franklin Center.

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Left of Black is a weekly Webcast hosted by Mark Anthony Neal and produced in collaboration with the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University.

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Episodes of Left of Black are also available for download @ iTunes U:

The Tanning Effect: How Dr. Dre And Snoop Dogg Broke Down Barriers (VIDEO)

Last week HuffPost Black Voices premiered the second episode of its ongoing video series, "The Tanning Effect," which featured hip-hop mogul Jay-Z discussing his performance as the first major hip-hop act to headline British festival Glastonbury (in 2008) and the effect of his 2003 hit single, "Change Clothes," on the stock of sports apparel. 

In the latest installment of the series, legendary music producer Jimmy Iovine opens up on breaking down barriers with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg's 1993 single "Nuthin But A 'G' Thang" [Watch the clip above in part two of the interview]. The Interscope Records chairman revealed the trick that influenced radio programmers to play the classic hit on Pop radio stations.