Black Superman

His record label is a joint venture between Def Jam and a corporation known for producing health and beauty products. His label mate is infamous for YouTube clips which feature her scarfing down Papa John's pizzas. Q understands people will be skeptical of him, as he tries to establish a career on TAG Records.

"I'm a rapper at the end of the day," Q tells Billboard magazine. "I'm not here to just promote the TAG brand. I'm an artist, and I'm here to promote my music."

While acts such as Cool Kids and Tyga have found success using major corporations to avoid the financial risks of recording on a major label, fans can be slow to accept an artist who seems more interested in advertising products than making music.

Today TAG announced plans to move forward with promoting Q, who has been working quietly behind the scenes with TAG President Jermaine Dupri. The Brooklyn native, whose previous credits were limited to appearances on obscure projects such as the Drumline soundtrack, will appear in his own MTV special. VMA's Livin' the Dream, chronicles Q's journey from unsigned hustler to JD's new flagship artist. The 30-minute special, which was filmed during Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards, is tentatively scheduled to air Sept. 15. There are also plans for a DJ Envy assisted mixtape and a massive print advertising campaign in the works.

While his upcoming show clearly has branding ties between Procter & Gamble (TAG's parent company) and the MTV network, MTV's senior VP of integrated marketing, Tim Rosta, tells Billboard that the network is under no obligation to spin Q's music video "On A Mission" on the channel. It should also be noted that VMA's Livin' the Dream was funded entirely by Procter & Gamble. Even if Rosta's words prove true, the deodorant deal is bringing Q more exposure than he ever saw during his So So Def days. During the last year he has already appeared on remixes for singles by Alicia Keys and Rihanna.

"You can't get this type of marketing budget," Dupri explained to People.com after the TAG partnership was announced in April. "There are endorsement deals, but not like this. There's a lot going on in the world that makes it hard to do the old conventional record business."

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