The Top 9 Hip Hop Album Marketing Ideas

These stars creatively pushed their product.

The Sweet Life - Jay Z and Kanye West make an appearance at the Purple Agency Presents Leslie Taylor's and Skakora Conley's Sweet 16 at Carlton Hotel June 12, 2011, in New York City. (Photo: Shareif Ziyadat/PictureGroup) 

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Kanye West and Jay-Z Open 'Watch the Throne' Pop Up Shop - Adorned completely in the same Riccardo Tisci gold packaging that covers the album, a temporary Watch the Throne store appeared in New York City's SoHo neighborhood on August 12, 2011. Selling only one item, Jay-Z and Kanye West's much-hyped and recently released album of the same title, the store was a product of some marketing genius. Who doesn't want to say they bought a hard copy of WTT from the only pop-up shop in the country? Or get the chance to rub up against (or probably just look at) the chopped-up Maybach from the "Otis" video, which was also on display at the store. \r\r(Photo: Shareif Ziyadat/PictureGroup)

Kanye Goes Head to Head with 50 Cent - Speaking of Kanye, remember when he teamed up (sort of) with another rapper to drum up sales? In 2007, West chose September 11 for the release of his third studio album Graduation and coincidentally 50 Cent chose the same day for Curtis. In typical 50 fashion, the New York rapper told the media that Ye should consider a new date if he hoped to top the Billboard charts. The two went back and forth in the media, 50 even betting that he'd quit rap if he wasn't number one. The pair campaigned on television shows like 106 and Park and even appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone facing each other like prize fighters. Their faux-beef got fans treating a trip to the record store like it was a trip to the ballot box. 'Ye was the technical winner, but 50 came in second with 691,000 in first-week sales during an industry slump, so there were no real los...

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Kanye Goes Head to Head with 50 Cent - Speaking of Kanye, remember when he teamed up (sort of) with another rapper to drum up sales? In 2007, West chose September 11 for the release of his third studio album Graduation and coincidentally 50 Cent chose the same day for Curtis. In typical 50 fashion, the New York rapper told the media that Ye should consider a new date if he hoped to top the Billboard charts. The two went back and forth in the media, 50 even betting that he'd quit rap if he wasn't number one. The pair campaigned on television shows like 106 and Park and even appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone facing each other like prize fighters. Their faux-beef got fans treating a trip to the record store like it was a trip to the ballot box. 'Ye was the technical winner, but 50 came in second with 691,000 in first-week sales during an industry slump, so there were no real los...

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Lady Gaga Sells Born This Way for 99 Cents - Lady Gaga went out on a limb for the release of her second studio album Born This Way in May 2011. The pop icon practically gave her album away for free on Amazon.com, selling it for only 99 cents for a short 48 hour period. In the end, Born This Way sold more than 1.1 million copies in its first week, the largest first-week album sales in over six years. More than 440,000 of those copies were from the Amazon.com sales but at the end of the day, does it really matter if she still has the bragging rights? \r\r(Photo: Kristian Dowling/PictureGroup)

Photo By Photo credit: Kristian Dowling/PictureGroup

Kanye Uses Humor and Element of Surprise for Fifth Album  - After going on a short hiatus after the release of 808s and Heartbreaks, Kanye West used the element of surprise to sell his fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The superstar signed up for a Twitter account which he used with reckless abandon, creating one of the funniest Twitter accounts ever and giving everyone something to talk about at the water cooler. Then the star gave multiple impromptu visits and performances at offices like the Google and Facebook headquarters. Top it all off with the self-directed video for "Runaway" and Ye had his promotion plan on lock!   (Photo: Def Jam Records)

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Kanye Uses Humor and Element of Surprise for Fifth Album - After going on a short hiatus after the release of 808s and Heartbreaks, Kanye West used the element of surprise to sell his fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The superstar signed up for a Twitter account which he used with reckless abandon, creating one of the funniest Twitter accounts ever and giving everyone something to talk about at the water cooler. Then the star gave multiple impromptu visits and performances at offices like the Google and Facebook headquarters. Top it all off with the self-directed video for "Runaway" and Ye had his promotion plan on lock!   (Photo: Def Jam Records)

Lil B Names Album I'm Gay Then Gives It Away for Free - Although he says the title wasn't meant to garner attention, it sure got him a lot anyway. For his latest album, enigmatic west coast rapper Lil B named the project I'm Gay as a way to express how meaningless words really are. The night before the album's release, B tweeted a free download link for the entire project. This might not have been the most profitable move but he made headlines again the next day, which likely helped to spread his music outside of his based fans. \r\r(Photo: Amalgam Digital)

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Lil B Names Album I'm Gay Then Gives It Away for Free - Although he says the title wasn't meant to garner attention, it sure got him a lot anyway. For his latest album, enigmatic west coast rapper Lil B named the project I'm Gay as a way to express how meaningless words really are. The night before the album's release, B tweeted a free download link for the entire project. This might not have been the most profitable move but he made headlines again the next day, which likely helped to spread his music outside of his based fans. \r\r(Photo: Amalgam Digital)

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Freeway and Jake One Make Album Cover a Collector's Item - In 2010, rapper Freeway and producer Jake One teamed up on the album The Stimulus Package. In order to move more units, someone on their team had the brilliant idea to make the packaging for the album somewhat of a collector's item. The cover, which was fashioned like stacked bills, folded out like a wallet with fake money and credit cards. The packaging was so cool that it made it hard to resist picking up a hard copy just to show it to other people. \r\r(Photo: Rhymesayers Entertainment) 

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Freeway and Jake One Make Album Cover a Collector's Item - In 2010, rapper Freeway and producer Jake One teamed up on the album The Stimulus Package. In order to move more units, someone on their team had the brilliant idea to make the packaging for the album somewhat of a collector's item. The cover, which was fashioned like stacked bills, folded out like a wallet with fake money and credit cards. The packaging was so cool that it made it hard to resist picking up a hard copy just to show it to other people. \r\r(Photo: Rhymesayers Entertainment) 

Game's Dyes Hair Red, Agitates Compton Police Department - Although it's suffered many delays since its original release date in 2009, Game's The R.E.D. Album is set to drop August 23. In addition to dyeing his hair red a few months back in anticipation of the album's release, Game is also getting some attention for pranking the Compton Sheriff Department. The rapper told his Twitter followers that he was looking for an intern and provided a number to call that led to the Compton Sheriff's Department. Although the prank was funny, the police thought it was no laughing matter and wants to file charges against the rapper. Game denies he tweeted the number saying a friend of his was tweeting from his account. \r\r(Photo: TwitPic.com)

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Game's Dyes Hair Red, Agitates Compton Police Department - Although it's suffered many delays since its original release date in 2009, Game's The R.E.D. Album is set to drop August 23. In addition to dyeing his hair red a few months back in anticipation of the album's release, Game is also getting some attention for pranking the Compton Sheriff Department. The rapper told his Twitter followers that he was looking for an intern and provided a number to call that led to the Compton Sheriff's Department. Although the prank was funny, the police thought it was no laughing matter and wants to file charges against the rapper. Game denies he tweeted the number saying a friend of his was tweeting from his account. \r\r(Photo: TwitPic.com)

Nas and Wife Brandish the N-Word at Grammy's - Nas originally wanted to title his ninth studio album Nigger but the label wouldn't allow it and it was ultimately named Untitled. Before this decision was made, Nas and then-wife Kelis decided to promote the album's controversial title by wearing matching outfits with the N-word prominently displayed across the front and back on the red carpet at the 2008 Grammy Awards. The media had a field day over the audacious act.(Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) 

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Nas and Wife Brandish the N-Word at Grammy's - Nas originally wanted to title his ninth studio album Nigger but the label wouldn't allow it and it was ultimately named Untitled. Before this decision was made, Nas and then-wife Kelis decided to promote the album's controversial title by wearing matching outfits with the N-word prominently displayed across the front and back on the red carpet at the 2008 Grammy Awards. The media had a field day over the audacious act.(Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) 

Nicki Minaj Turns Twitter Fridays Pink \r - Last year, Nicki Minaj proved the strength of her Barbie Nation by instructing her allegiant fans to tweet photos of their pets dyed pink, themselves drenched in pink paint, or anything that screamed Pink Friday, along with the hashtag #PinkFriday in anticipation of her debut album of the same title. Predictably, Minaj's #PinkFriday was a trending topic on the social networking site for many weeks leading up to her release date. \r\r(Photo: Johnny Nunez/Getty Images)

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Nicki Minaj Turns Twitter Fridays Pink \r - Last year, Nicki Minaj proved the strength of her Barbie Nation by instructing her allegiant fans to tweet photos of their pets dyed pink, themselves drenched in pink paint, or anything that screamed Pink Friday, along with the hashtag #PinkFriday in anticipation of her debut album of the same title. Predictably, Minaj's #PinkFriday was a trending topic on the social networking site for many weeks leading up to her release date. \r\r(Photo: Johnny Nunez/Getty Images)