Booba, Snoop Dog: hip-hop in the service of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis

While hip-hop and urban music as a whole are establishing themselves as the most listened to musical genre in France, particularly by young people, an observatory conducted by Génération sans Tabac documents that tobacco, cannabis and alcohol are omnipresent in the videos of French-speaking artists. The consumption of these products, presented as an inseparable element of hip-hop culture, makes the latter an advertising showcase for manufacturers' marketing strategies. 

Of the hundred most listened to singles in France in 2023 and listed by the National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing (SNEP), 56 belong to the category of French-language urban music. The vast majority of these songs are associated with a clip available on YouTube (45)[1].

All of these video contents were viewed in order to assess, on the one hand, the level of presence of tobacco or related products (ashtray, rolling papers, etc.), cannabis and derivatives (CBD), and on the other hand, the level of presence of alcohol on the screen. Due to the difficulty encountered in distinguishing between the consumption of tobacco, cannabis or CBD on the screen, these products were grouped into a single category.

Tobacco, cannabis or alcohol in 71% clips

The results document a strong normalization of tobacco, cannabis and alcohol in these cultural productions. Overall, 71% of the clips feature tobacco, cannabis or alcohol (32 videos), and in 42% of the content, tobacco/cannabis/CBD and alcohol appear simultaneously on screen.

In detail, out of the 45 clips, 28 included a scene with at least one scene of tobacco consumption, cannabis consumption, or the presence of a related product, i.e. more than 62%. Consumption appears up to 13 times on screen for a clip, although it lasts 2 minutes and 26 seconds.

In more than half of the content viewed, alcohol is also featured (23 videos out of 45, or 51%). Given the high popularity of these songs, this presence of tobacco and alcohol benefits from very high visibility. Indeed, content containing at least one occurrence of one of these products has a total of 2.049 billion views on the YouTube platform alone. No occurrence of electronic cigarettes was noted in all of the content viewed.

A health risk, especially for the younger generations

In 2018, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association already warned of the excessive presence of tobacco and nicotine products in American rap videos.[2]. While this musical genre is heavily listened to by adolescents, researchers highlighted the risk that such a situation posed to public health. Indeed, studies devoted to this subject show that exposure to such content can increase the risk of initiation, and reinforce a positive perception of the consumption of these products.

References to tobacco, cannabis and alcohol are omnipresent in the lyrics

These results also highlight the very strong normalization of tobacco, cannabis or alcohol consumption in hip-hop culture. Beyond the visual occurrences, these products appear to be closely associated with the symbolic imagery of these cultural productions, as evidenced by a quick analysis of the lyrics. Indeed, nearly two-thirds of these 45 songs make a direct reference in their lyrics to the consumption of tobacco, cannabis or alcohol (64.4%), and 20% of them simultaneously evoke these two categories of products. In more than half of the content (53.3%), the artist makes a reference to the consumption of tobacco or cannabis. Alcohol consumption, although slightly below, nevertheless seems to strongly infuse the imagery of hip-hop culture, since it is mentioned in 31% of the songs.

“I'm glued to the headrest, the roof is open, I'm on cannabis” - (Maes - Fetty Wap)

“Still single ice, I'm talking Hennessy, I'm talking XO (Watch the bottle)” - (Naps - It's square the S)

These products even seem to occupy a central place in urban music, which largely promotes their consumption. This association between tobacco, cannabis, alcohol and hip-hop is very widely assumed by the artists themselves, who go so far as to associate the title of some of their songs with one of these products. This is particularly the case for Vald, with “Winston” (2016) or Tayc with “Philip Morris” (2017). In the same way, the rapper Booba directly refers to a famous brand of whisky with his song “Jack Da” (2015), just as his counterpart Kaaris makes an obvious allusion to a brand of vodka through his song entitled “Ciroc” (2013).

Attributes closely associated with hip-hop culture

More than omnipresent, the consumption of tobacco, cannabis or alcohol even seems to be valued as an integral part of the ethos of the artist, the man in the street, or both. For example, these products can be summoned by the artist to stage himself as a tortured character, here joining an aesthetic stereotype:

“I suck in time with narrowed eyes” – (Lunatic – Silence is not forgetting)

“I'm dropping a project where I talk to you about the judge, about how I destroy my liver, because we all die in the end.” – (So The Moon – Eternal)

In order to target men and encourage them to maximize their consumption, the tobacco and alcohol industry has developed a marketing strategy aimed at making their products masculine attributes, inseparable from a certain form of virility. This association between tobacco, alcohol and masculinity seems to have strongly infused the hip-hop imagination, which, particularly in its “ego trip” counterpart, can be likened to a virile celebration and self-cult.

Thus, the consumption of alcohol, cannabis or tobacco can, for example, be used by the artist to present himself as a figure of independence, capable of challenging institutions:

“The only papers I have on me are my rolling papers, chicken” – (Mala – You don’t know me)

“I drive drunk on the A4” – (Nessbeal – Gunshot)

Furthermore, the consumption of these products can also be seen as a symbol of power, domination and control:

“Give me your hand, so I can crush my cigarette butt” – (Booba – Game over)

“Lost in a harem, badly drunk, I stand up” – (Booba – Salside)

Finally, in a similar vein, tobacco and alcohol can be invoked by artists as attributes of personal, social and financial success. In this respect, in the video “Bolide allemand” by SDM, the first hip-hop title of 2023 and with over 100 million views on YouTube, a cigar is used as an inlay to introduce the director of the video, which opens with a scene of the artist smoking.

“Cigar in the mouth in the helicopter” – (Benash – Ghetto)

“I pay for my bottle, you pay for your can” – (Booba – Double pony)

Snoop Dogg, or consumption as an identity marker 

The consumption of these products thus appears as a real identity marker, long anchored in the hip-hop imagination, as illustrated by the example of the American rapper Snoop Dogg. This emblematic figure of West Coast rap, active since the 1990s and having sold 40 million records since the beginning of his career, has built part of the identity of his public persona around the consumption of cannabis. Author of the title “Smoke Weed Everyday” with Dr Dre, the rapper, famous for having hired an employee solely dedicated to rolling his joints, appears in particular in the series Weeds, in which he plays his own role. In 2023, following the broadcast on the networks of a video of him announcing “stop smoking”, many media outlets, such as France Info or Le Figaro, relayed the information, which would ultimately turn out to be a communication operation aimed at promoting a brand of smoke-free barbecue.[3].

A trivialization of consumption reinforced by the entire music sector

In France, tobacco, cannabis and alcohol also appear as identity markers of urban music, as evidenced by the show Planet Rap, broadcast on Skyrock. Launched in the late 90s, this daily show broadcast live between 8pm and 9pm aims to present an artist each week, generally as part of an upcoming musical project release. Hosted by Fred Musa since its launch, the show has nevertheless managed to renew itself, by broadcasting its content on the Internet, and in particular on its YouTube channel, which has more than 500,000 subscribers. A quick viewing of a few video clips shows that the presence of scenes of tobacco, cannabis and alcohol consumption are omnipresent in this show, despite the regulations, starting with the ban on smoking in enclosed places open to the public or constituting workplaces.

Hip-hop, an advertising showcase for advertisers

As a result, urban music artists were quickly identified by manufacturers as potential partners in the implementation of marketing strategies. Indeed, beyond its strong popularity among young populations and the power of influence and prescription of its artists, urban music can constitute a symbolic space favorable to the diffusion of advertising messages, particularly in favor of alcohol. This semantic continuum between cultural content and advertising content constitutes an asset for the advertiser, to whom we offer a new advertising space and discourse, all the more favorably received by the public since the advertisement is not systematically identified as such by the viewer.[4]. In other words, where a television or radio advertisement for a champagne brand may leave the consumer indifferent or even upset, a placement for the same product in a video clip by a rapper glorifying his personal success may appear to be a more discreet, more appropriate and therefore more effective form of advertising. The opportunity for such a strategy was well understood by alcohol producers. Indeed, out of the 45 clips viewed, 4 offered a product placement for champagnes and spirits. Tobacco and alcohol are not the only ones concerned, since viewing these 45 contents made it possible to identify a placement in favor of the Golden CBD brand, two placements for sports betting companies, as well as a placement for an energy drink brand. In total, the clips containing at least one advertising placement for one of these products have accumulated more than 800 million views.

American rap, ambassador of choice for alcohol producers

In the United States, financial partnerships have multiplied between the alcohol sector and artists from hip-hop and urban music. For example, during the Grammy Awards in 2013, rapper Jay-Z offered effective advertising for Bacardi's Cognac D'Ussé, of which he was one of the representatives, by drinking it directly from his gramophone-shaped trophy. Similarly, in 2007, rapper Puff Daddy signed a contract with Cîroc, becoming one of the ambassadors of the vodka brand with footballer Didier Drogba. These partnerships are proving particularly lucrative, for both manufacturers and their ambassadors: Myx, the Moscato wine brand, associated with singer Nicki Minaj, saw its sales increase by 400% in a few months, allowing 7.5 million bottles of alcohol to be sold.

French rap increasingly approached by the alcohol industry

Although to a lesser extent, in France, the urban music industry has also attracted the interest of alcohol producers. In 2021, the Cash Investigation show showed that rapper Oxmo Puccino had been approached by Pernod Ricard as part of a marketing strategy for its Chivas Regal whisky brand. Since these practices were illegal, the management of the digital department, trapped by the Cash Investigation journalist, explained that they avoided leaving any written traces of any partnership with the artist: “these guys have a word, so you don't need to contract it out.”[5] Similarly, on the occasion of the marketing of a bottle edition, the beer brand 8.6 teamed up with rapper Seth Gueko, in order to present “original and offbeat recipes based on 8.6”. The objective of such a collaboration, entitled “La meute des chefs by Seth Gueko”, is clearly announced: “to conquer an audience of young and urban foodistas”.

Alcohol, nicotine products, cannabis: a diversification horizon for hip-hop artists

Furthermore, some urban music artists have even taken the step of capitalizing on their notoriety to launch their own brand. Thus, in 2015, after marketing his cigar brand three years earlier, rapper Snoop Dogg announced the launch of “Leafs by Snoop Dogg”, a range of cannabis. In 2024, the rapper decided to open his first store dedicated to hip-hop and cannabis, SWED, to Smoke Weed EverydayThe store, in addition to selling cannabis products, bills itself as a space for “celebrating hip-hop culture,” ultimately offering a “unique blend of music and cannabis” aimed at “offering customers an immersive experience.”[6].

Similarly, in 2017, American rapper A$ap Rocky also distinguished himself through a collaboration with the KandyPens brand to design an electronic cigarette, sold for $148 on the market.[7].

Booba, music at the service of business

Although the practice is mainly limited to artists across the Atlantic, the phenomenon is taking root in France, through the figurehead of French rap: Booba. With a career spanning nearly thirty years, Booba has successfully capitalized on his brand image in various diversification projects. After marketing a clothing brand and a perfume, the rapper from Hauts-de-Seine launched his own brand of whisky in 2017.[8], DUC, a direct homage to his own nickname, the “Duke of Boulogne”, and namesake of his seventh solo album, released in 2015. Here again, music is conveniently used as an advertising sounding board for the whisky brand. In 2017, rapper Damso, then signed to Booba's 92i label, made a direct reference in a verse of the song 113: “Bottle of DUC on a son of a bitch, it's starting well”. In 2024, it was the turn of rapper SDM, also signed to the same label, to make a well-felt allusion to Booba's brand: “Cigare en che-bou quand j'arrive sur scène [...] Le serveur puts du DUC dans mon verre”.

In 2024, the diversification continues, and the rapper announces that he will market a range of cannabis in countries where sales are authorized, and a range of CBD in others, under the PRT LAB brand, in reference to the world of piracy, widely developed in his songs, such as in his title “Pirates”, released in 2012, “Ratpis” (2015) “Ratpi World” (2021) or “PRT” (2021). In an interview with Newsweed, the rapper sums up his marketing strategy: “I have always done my business in relation to my art, to my hip-hop culture. I have always seized the opportunities I had”[9].

To promote it, the rapper does not hesitate to mobilize his X page (ex-Twitter) and its 6.4 million subscribers, opportunistically surfing on the police custody of rapper Zola, stopped at more than 200 km/h on the highway and tested positive for narcotics.

The PRT LAB brand is also accompanied by a number of derivative products, such as ashtrays, lighters, and POP rolling papers for Paper o Plomo. In the same interview for Newsweed, the rapper also develops an advertising message, praising the benefits of consuming his products for physical recovery: “some people do sports to compensate for smoking. I do sports and use it more for recovery. Like many boxers and UFC fighters. They all smoke after training for muscle recovery, for muscle pain, and for all that, it really helps them.”

The PRT LAB brand also offers a range of disposable e-cigarettes. While regulations prohibit the marketing of disposable e-cigarettes containing nicotine for devices larger than 2 milliliters, the brand offers a 20 milliliter disposable e-cigarette, containing 2% of nicotine. Similarly, on the platforms on which it is marketed, the puff is the subject of an illegal advertising message: “from the first inhalation, you will be transported by the sweetness of the strawberry, the richness of the blackberry and the delicate acidity of the redcurrant”, assuring the consumer that the e-cigarette is “perfect for daily use”.

  Appendix: 

Single Title	Artist	Presence of tobacco or cannabis in the clip	Presence of alcohol in the clip	Reference to tobacco or cannabis in lyrics	Reference to alcohol in the lyrics	Number of views (in millions)
German racing car	SDM	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	107
Meuda	Tiakola	No	No	Yes	No
Pretty	Gallic	Yes	Yes	No	No	66
Little Genius Jungelli	Jungelli	No	No	No	No
Saiyan	Heuss the bastard	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	70
Casanova	Soolking	No	No	No	No
Amber	Zola	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	40
Tiki Taka	Vacra	No	No	Yes	Yes
Baby	Aya Nakamura	No	No	No	No
It's square the S	Naps	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	45
Flowers	Gaso	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	2
Tomorrow	PLK	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	17
Decrescendo	Lomepal	No	No	No	No
Lola	RK	Yes	No	Yes	No	52
The street	No Limit	Yes	No	No	Yes	33
Leave me	Keblack	Yes	Yes	No	No	60
News	PLK	Yes	Yes	No	No	8
All day	Zola	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	12
Fetty Wap	Maes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	40
Meridian	Tiakola	No	No	No	No
Urus	Faved	No	No	Yes	No
Everything is fine	Alonzo	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	93
Lonely	Werenoi	Yes	No	No	No	26
Galactic	Maes	Yes	No	Yes	No	22
The kiffance	Naps	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	188
Flashback	Faved	No	No	Yes	Yes
Tayc	Room 69	Yes	No	No	No	13
The fault	Jul	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	77
Eurostar	Ninho	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	3
Organized gang	Jul	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	528
To stroll	Soolking	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	120
Gasolina	Tiakola	Yes	No	Yes	No	50
Autobahn	SCH	No	Yes	Yes	No	35
I know her	SCH	No	No	No	No
Macarena	Damso	No	No	No	No
The Bandit	Jul	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	67
The league	Werenoi	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	49
Reminder	Gaso	Yes	No	No	No	52
Chief	Ninho	No	No	No	No	103
Too beautiful	Lomepal	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	85
10.03.2023	Werenoi	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	23
No love	Ninho	No	Yes	No	No	39
Sweetly	Soolking	No	No	No	No
Intro	Josman	Yes	No	Yes	No	9
GTB	Jey Brownie	No	Yes	No	Yes	18

  ©PHOTOPQR/LE PARISIEN/MAXPPP ©Tobacco Free Generation

FT

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[1] SNEP, Top singles 2023, (accessed [2] Knutzen KE, Moran MB, Soneji S. Tobacco and marijuana-based combustible and electronic products in hip-hop music videos, 2013–2017. JAMA Intern Med. 2018;178(12):1608–1615. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.4488   [3] France Info, "I decided to quit smoking", reveals rapper Snoop Dogg, a big fan of cannabis, 11/21/2023, (accessed 09/11/2023)   [4] Karine Berthelot-Guiet, Caroline Marti de Montety and Valérie Patrin-Leclère, “Between de-advertising and hyper-advertising, a theory of the metamorphoses of advertising”, Semen [Online], 36 | 2013, posted on April 22, 2015, consulted on September 11, 2024.   [5]Cash Investigation, Alcohol: strategies to make us drink, 2021, (accessed 09/11/2024)   [6] Newsweed, Snoop Dogg Opens First Cannabis Store, Pays Tribute to 2Pac, 07/22/2024, (accessed 09/11/2024)   [7] Move', A$AP Rocky releases an electronic cigarette for vaping with purple swag, 06/09/2017, (accessed 11/09/2017)   [8] The Express, Rapper Booba launches his own whisky, 05/24/2017, consulted on 09/11/2024)   [9] Newsweed, [INTERVIEW] Booba launches his cannabis brand: “All my businesses revolve around my art”, 11/06/2024, (accessed 11/09/2024)   National Committee Against Smoking |