For Cadillac, the tipping point came with the 1999 introduction of the Cadillac Escalade, a full-size SUV (based on the Chevy Tahoe) loaded with luxury and trimmed out with dramatic, knife-edge styling. The Escalade became a hit with many African American athletes, in part because pro basketball players often had a hard time folding themselves into a Bentley Azure.
....Yet all that glitters is not bling. Pimpin' is, after all, about sexual exploitation of women. And while it's easy to laugh while watching MTV's "Pimp My Ride," there is plenty in hip-hop that Cadillac would do well to keep at arm's length.
....In a country where Janet Jackson's brief glandular grandstanding at the Super Bowl shook Congress to its blue stockings, hip-hop's aesthetic remains too raunchy and lawless for general consumption. "We would be vehemently opposed to any lyrics about violence and drugs," LaNeve told Automotive News. "But we can't control that. Our attitude would be to stay out of it. If something came up that is portrayed as harmful to society or the product image, we would try to look into that."
If? Do they get MTV in Detroit? [LA times] Ironically, the farther the company distances itself from the playa image - and white 50-years old jamming to Led Zeppelin is about as far from it as you can get - the more the bling culture will embrace a product. They playa culture wants to partake of "real class" as a symbol of "making it" on its own terms. In a way it is embracing that which is most likely to reject it on a cultural level, but business is business, and while Cadillac, Cristal and Gucci aren't going to acknowledge their "other" image, they aren't going to turn down the sales either.
Article comments
1 - Rondeau
Gansta rappers are modern day minstrels
Please take the time to review my thoughts on the impact of the gangsta rap/prison culture on the black community.
Best
Don L. Rondeau