Nicki Minaj became the first female to grace FORBES’ Hip-Hop Cash Kings last year, pulling in $6.5 million, enough to land the No. 15 spot on the annual accounting of rap’s top earners. Expect her bulging bank account to grow even more in 2012 following a massive deal she recently signed with Pepsi.
According to Derek Jackson, the Glu agency chief who brokered the agreement, Minaj will become the face of a new Pepsi beverage nearing its debut. He said the pact, which includes a commercial filmed in South America last month (pixely footage has already leaked on YouTube), is a multimillion-dollar deal.
“You’ll see the commercial probably in the next two months,” Jackson told me before Lil Wayne’s performance at South By Southwest. “That’ll be a segue into a new beverage Pepsi has, called ‘Pop,’ and she’ll be the face of the brand … it’s going to be explosive.”
The pact was one of two major partnerships between Pepsi and Cash Money / Young Money artists garnering significant attention in Austin. Lil Wayne debuted his DEWeezy campaign with Pepsi’s Mountain Dew, also negotiated by Jackson, at his South By Southwest showcase.
Like Minaj’s, terms of Wayne’s agreement weren’t officially disclosed, but Jackson told me that it was a seven-figure commitment as well. Wayne’s deal also includes an option that would result in Pepsi and Mountain Dew bankrolling an original film featuring the diminutive rapper.
Though both artists are signed to Cash Money / Young Money, the label’s marquee acts aren’t exclusive to Pepsi. Drake, who joined Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj on last year’s Cash Kings list, shills for Coca-Cola’s Sprite.
Related Links;
[CREDIT]
