certified investor boy

Hey! Congrats to H.E.R and Joey Badass for winning big at last night's Oscars! I also loved Glenn Close's "Da Butt" moment even if it was planned. But damn, what a weird ending.

Steven Soderbergh, who directed the show, took a gamble. He assumed he would end the night by honoring the late Chadwick Boseman, the favorite to win Best Actor. But Chad lost to Anthony Hopkins, who wasn't even there! Regardless of which deserved to win, it was a risk that didn't pay off. Richard Rushfield from The Ankler did a great post-Oscars breakdown on this.​

Two quick things before today's memo. First, on Friday's Trapital Podcast I re-ran my chat with Shawn Prez, Bad Boy's former VP of Marketing. We talked about Black Rob in that episode, which is good to revisit given the rapper's recent death. Second, Trapital was written about in Harvard's Nieman Lab! Check it out here.

This week's memo is on Cardi B's upcoming Bardi Beauty, Drake's investment in Overtime, and H.E.R.'s success.

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What Cardi B's Bardi Beauty Needs to Succeed

According to TMZ, Cardi's company Washpoppin Inc filed the Bardi Beauty trademark to sell cosmetics, fragrances, hair, skin, and nail products.

The Cardi B stimulus: Cardi's influence in luxury fashion is legit. In 2017, her 'red bottoms, bloody shoes' line in "Bodak Yellow" line created $4.5 million in earned media and 217% jump in searches for Christian Louboutin shoes. Her line about Balenciagas (the ones that look like socks) led to her deal with the luxury brand. That Cardi B name drop is a stimulus check for the right brand.

In a recent XXL interview, Cardi says she wants to be part of that "big number" in her deals, not just the $2 million, $3 million checks she's often offered. That "big number" is a royalty check that comes from owning brands like Yeezy or Fenty. That's where she's likely going with Bardi Beauty. But influencer marketing and building new brands are two different games.

Celebrity status is not enough: Look at Rihanna. In 2016 she was the most marketable celebrity, but that's not why Fenty Beauty and Savage Fenty succeeded. Both brands found product-market fit. They serve the underserved with inclusive and affordable products. Meanwhile, Fenty's LVMH brand was shut down because it never found that fit. Rihanna's top marketability wasn't enough to sell those $870 hoodies.

Bardi Beauty will rely on Cardi B's brand, which is about women owning their sexuality, authenticity, and luxury. Shock value is her currency. But Bardi Beauty needs more than that. Her Reebok collab has left a lot to be desired as Mike Sykes from Kicks You Wear pointed out in November. According to Cardi, last week's Reebok drop has "sold out quickly." But sellouts are a function of supply, and this is a limited drop culture. It's hard to evaluate the real impact until we see some numbers.

Bardi Beauty will be most successful if it leans in to what makes Cardi Cardi, and still makes a name for itself.

Read more about Cardi B in her XXL Magazine Interview.

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Drake's builds up his media investment portfolio

The Certified Lover Boy invested in Overtime's $80 million Series C round alongside Jeff Bezos, Devin Booker, and Alexis Ohanian.

OVO Media Investors: If Drake built a fund around his investments, its focus would be media and gaming. Here's his portfolio of public investments:

• Overtime: sports media
• NTWRK: entertainment-focused shopping platform
• Player's Lounge: wagering platform for gamers
• 100 Thieves: gaming organization and lifestyle brand
• Madefire: digital comics-based content (currently insolvent)
• Omni: storage on-demand
• Coveteur: digital media (acquired)

Not bad! One exit, one (potential) failure, and the rest are still going.

One of my recent predictions for the 2020s is that media will be one of the big investment areas for hip-hop. Audience building in media is hard. But when it's done well, selling products becomes easier. Successful artists are experts at this and can be value-add investors. They can do more than give out checks and send the dreaded "let me know how I can be helpful" messages.

Similar business models: For instance, Drake built up his audience over the years. He now gets checks from Take Care streams, touring revenue, State Farm commercials, merch, and more. I bet he still gets Degrassi royalty checks too.

His revenue mix is relatable to Overtime. Like Drake, the startup built its audience through original content, then sold products to that audience. It now plans to launch a paid basketball league that pays 16- to 18-year-olds up to $100,000 per year.

In a few years, I expect to see Drake courtside at an Overtime Elite basketball game. He'll be acting up like he's at a Toronto Raptors playoff game. His courtside antics will drive audiences to watch the event, which helps both parties. Let's hope he doesn't get too out of pocket though. It's fine to call Draymond Green trash. But he can't yell at 17-year-old kids like that!

Read more about Drake's legacy in last year's Trapital essay on OVO Sound.

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H.E.R.'s Rebrand from Child Star to R&B Star

H.E.R. is stacking up the awards. Last night's Oscar win comes a few weeks after she won "Song of the Year" at the Grammys. The R&B singer has been stacking up the accolades, but she's been doing this long before she became H.E.R.

The former child star: The 23-year-old singer has had the spotlight on her for most of her life. At nine she was on Nickelodeon's School Gyrls. When she was 10, she performed on The Today Show and covered Alicia Keys. At 12, she was a finalist on Disney's Next Big Thing and performed at the BET Awards. The list goes on. She was first signed by Sony when she was 14. She released music under her real name Gabi Wilson, but still needed time to develop as an artist. She eventually signed with RCA in 2014.

In 2016, she emerged under the new persona, "H.E.R." There was no public connection to Gabi Wilson. H.E.R. added to the allure by wearing sunglasses at all times.

The re-brand to become H.E.R.: This was a full-on mystery marketing campaign, similar to The Weeknd who also hid his identity when he first dropped his mixtapes. After H.E.R's first release, Genius and Forbes went into Zapruder film investigation mode to uncover her real identity. They figured it out, but H.E.R.'s rebrand was still effective. This wasn't like Puff Daddy or Christina Aguilera developing alter ego-type names. This was a brand new artist. This was more like Tity Boi becoming 2 Chainz.

In the past five years, H.E.R. has done a lot. She has won major awards and launched the Lights On music festival in the Bay Area. H.E.R is also the first Black woman to have a signature line with Fender guitars. She also has a sunglass line at DIFF Eyewear. And still, she has yet to release her "debut album." The distinction is a bit semantic. Her two compilation albums have been widely celebrated. But good move on her to build up demand. Anticipation is part of the game.

Read more about H.E.R.'s new virutal collab project Life's Good in Rolling Stone.

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Coming soon from Trapital

• Podcast - Brandon Pankey, Live Nation exec and founder of APEX. We talk about touring, his new video on-demand service, and more. Drops later this week!
• Essay on the major record labels - coming soon!

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