Advertisements are seen everywhere using all different kinds of approaches. They sometimes use direct forms such as flyers, billboards, cars, commercials, and even t-shirts; however, more recently, indirect advertisement-that is, unintended advertising is increasing in popularity. Indirect advertising is common in music, specifically African-American music. Although traditionally African American music has been mostly in ballad form had mostly been love ballads, a new genre of music has risen in the form of rap. Since its birth in the mid 1980's, rap has slowly become extremely popular and has developed into a highly influential force. Rappers have the uncanny ability to shape public thought. African American creativity in the media of music is so powerful that it can dictate what becomes popular. Their indirect advertising creativity is obvious through their songs which are complimented by their videos. Popular rappers unintentionally advertise products in their songs, but because of their influence, the advertisement is successful despite the cost of the products that they represent.
             "Pass the Courvoisier. Everybody sing it now. Pass the Courvoisier"--so goes the chorus of the song by Busta Rhymes and P. Diddy. The song was originally written as a club song. However, the song has proven to "increase the sales of the liquor by 4.5 percent in the first quarter of this year and into double digits in recent months" (Holloway 1). Hip-hop is in fact that popular. Busta Rhymes and P.Diddy are major contributors to the genre of rap and they "are so big now that everything they touch becomes popular and sells" (Holloway 2). The fact that Busta and P.Diddy can create a song about a particular liquor and unwittingly boosts the sales of the liquor is a reflection of their influence over the minds of their listeners. Recently, Cadillac has been beneficiary of free publicity from rap also. A...