Dizzee has progressed from a grime genre, and is now seen as a garage/hip hop mix. He has incorporated more dance inspiration as seen in his collaborations with such artists as Calvin Harris, Arctic Monkeys and his support slot on his recent tour with The Prodigy. He has gone from being an independent to a more mainstream sound. This has expanded his fan base to more than just his original demographic of hip hop youths in London town. He has been quoted as saying he is “leaving his grime roots behind” in favour of more mainstream pop.
2. Who are the fans? Do you have any sense of how the music companies have segmented the audiences? To what extent has the branding of a band been linked to target audience?
The hip hop and grime genre has a history of a predominately black fan base. This is due to most of the artists being black themselves and that they come from similar social and class background, thus appealing to the demographic. They are like local heroes in a way. However, with the genres becoming increasingly more mainstream, the audience is becoming a much more mixed bag. This can be related to the more frequent appearance of rap artists in festivals, and the charts, thus making them more accessible for a larger, more mainstream audience.
In this case, the record company is Dizzee himself, as he produces and records his own songs and albums on his record label “Dirtee Stank”. This means that he is in complete control of how he brands himself and how he appeals to his audience, which he does through his genre and fashion.
By producing all his own music, Dizzee, or as I like to call him, Mr. Rascal, has stayed true to his independent roots by not relying on some fancy pants record company.
3. What marketing strategies can you identify? What kinds of stategies can you list? (above/below-the line? unexpected promo stunts? etc). List any examples of the use of synergy with other industries to promote other media/products in connection with a band/artist.
Dizzee’s first album, “Boy in da Corner”, was the first rap album to win a Mercury Prize. It has been voted one of the top albums of all time by MTV Base. This shows how Dizzee has embraced his grime culture and mixed it with mainstream to produce an album that was marketable to more than just the standard rap demographic.
During his time in the Roll Deep crew Dizzee was stabbed six times in a live show due to a rivalry with the So Solid Crew (there was some bottom pinching involved). Although this is obviously bad it brought about a surge of press, getting Dizzee’s relatively unknown status brought in to the limelight. This is akin to the gang rivalries of the 90s seen in West Coast and East Coast rap in the US.
In 2004, Dizzee Rascal made an international endorsement deal with urban brand EckÅ and designed his own shoe with Nike in 2005.
http://www.dizzeerascal.co.uk/
http://www.myspace.com/dizzeerascal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dizzee_Rascal
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