Book Review: Erin O. Patton's 'Under the Influence' Book Showcases Hip-Hop Shopping Influence

In my elementary school years, I was consistently the best seller of Girl Scout cookies. This was in large part because people knew when my mother, who was a Girl Scout leader, and I would have cookies in stock. Then there were several years of selling stationery and gift products for Olympia Sales Club, something I made a nice penny from. In high school, I was a radio research surveyor and found out about demographic audiences. I did well at survey taking, too.

But when I decided to self-publish my first book, "Change for a Twenty," I had trouble figuring out how to gain customers. With the Girl Scouts, Olympia Sales Club and various Chicago radio stations, their brand was already popular. I didn't need to explain what each company was; people already knew if they'd be interested or not. This is when I started learning about the importance of branding, and Erin O. Patton's "Under the Influence: Tracing the Hip-Hop Generation's Impact on Brands, Sports, & Pop Culture" backed up my theories.

In Patton's book "Under the Influence," he details the connection between Hip-Hop culture, Hip-Hop music and Hip-Hop fashion. For those Hip-Hop heads who grew up rocking fashion like Adidas, Jordans, Kangol, FUBU, Enyce, Rocawear, Sean John, Baby Phat, Apple Bottoms, Reeboks, Stephon Marbury's Starbury gym shoes and throwback jerseys, this will be a fun read through memory lane. Consumers will also reflect on what was in style then, what's in style now, how some styles died out and how some name brands could've been more popular if they'd marketed their products differently.

"Under the Influence" also talks about other products that have been embraced in the Hip-Hop community, such as Motorola's two-way pagers, 50 Cent's vitamin water, And 1 mixtapes, "Jay-Z Blue" on the GMC Yukon Denalis, Ludacris' rhymes about Cadillacs and how HBCUs influenced Earthlink's sales. Of course Jay-Z's reaction to Frederic Rouzard, the managing director of Roederer-the producer of Cristal liquor-is elaborated on, a prime example of how Hip-Hop can help and hurt a company's reputation.

For those who are unfamiliar with Hip-Hop history, this read will be educational but maybe a little confusing if you don't know the names. However, like any history book, it'll educate non-Hip-Hop lovers on the power of the music and culture. For those who already consider themselves connoisseurs in Hip-Hop, you'll enjoy behind-the-scenes looks at how your favorite artist became a brand spokesperson.

This book is also very useful for those who are interested in advertising to an African-American audience, be it Generation X or Generation Y; a Hip-Hop audience; bookworms; fragrance manufacturers; or a multi-cultural audience for any other consumer product. Too many times brands feel like if they put the token black person in a commercial, that's enough to sell it to us. Not likely. Just as any other brand requires a specialist, this one does, too. Keep in mind he may be rocking Timberlands or she may be wearing Baby Phat, but her experience could do you some good. What I liked about this book besides the obvious was how in tune Patton was with the Hip-Hop community. He wasn't someone who listened to a couple mainstream artists and swore he was fan. He truly understands the culture of Hip-Hop.

The only part I disagreed with in this book was the author's opinion that big names should partner with other big brands. Patton says, "I have always felt they missed the greater opportunity to leverage their icon status and legitimate fashion instincts in partnership with an established brand." This mentality is the exact reason so many huge artists go bankrupt; they have all the talent but get none of the rights, especially music masters. By creating their own brands, they have more flexibility to change it up with the times and try new things instead of trying to convince non-urban brands that it'll work. Of course there are those brands like And 1 and Steve & Barry who understand Hip-Hop's persistent need to be a "first" and dare to be different, but not every company will understand this.

I devoured this 158-page read and would love to read more topics about advertising and trends from this author. I give this book an easy 5 out of 5 stars and give Patton even more respect for quoting my favorite Hip-Hop artist, Mos Def, to explain where Hip-Hop is going.