Most Rapped About Brands In The 05

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So which products were most name-dropped in the 106 songs that reached the Billboard Top 20 last year?

Acoording to a report by marketing firm Agenda Inc., Mercedes received 100 mentions from rappers in 2005, while Nike came in second with 63 mentions and former No. 1 Cadillac took third with 62.
Auto brands dominated the Top 10, with Bentley, Rolls Royce and Chevrolet also among the most-mentioned.

A total of 35 percent of the songs that made the charts in 2005 contained product references, compared to 40 percent of songs in 2004. The top product categories in this year's list were automobiles, fashion labels, beverages and weapons.

The brand which made the biggest gain in ranking this year was the pistol-maker Beretta, which debuted at No. 13 with 24 mentions.

50 Cent was the most brand-dropping rapper of the year, with 17 product mentions in 7 songs, mentioning brands like Bentley, Cristal, Lamborghini, Mercedes and Nike.

It was unclear how many of the product mentions were paid placements -- advertising industry analysts quoted in AdAge said that revealing such a deal would likely undermine both the rapper and the brand's credibility.

Oh and no mention of McDonalds who wanted to pay rappers for mentioning Big Macs...

Top ten brands:

1. Mercedes-Benz
2. Nike
3. Cadillac
4. Bentley
5. Rolls-Royce
6. Hennessy
7. Chevrolet
8. Louis Vuitton/Cristal (tie)
10. AK-47