Lotus appoints rapper Swizz Beatz as its new Vice President of Creative Design

Judging from the reaction on Lotus Cars’ facebook page this afternoon, news of their latest executive appointment has come as a bit of a shock. Lotus announced in a cryptic email that “..they had a new creative man on board — BUT can you guess who this particular international man of mystery is?” Well it’s none other than US record producer, rapper and all-round hip-hop star, Swizz Beatz.

We first became aware of the 33 year old rapper when he starred in Aston Martin’s web-only film, True Power Should Be Shared, earlier this year.

With a fan base of 600,000+ twitter followers and an enviable circle of friends, including Jay-Z, Beyoncé and his wife Alicia Keys, Lotus would seem to be on to a good thing – if celebrity endorsement is their goal.

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However there’s no mention on Swizz’s own site (www.swizzworld.com) nor on his twitter feed of today’s announcement, so perhaps it’s a little less of a ‘big deal’ to a man recently sponsored by Reebok and who still proudly displays an Aston Martin on the homepage of his site.

His title, according to Lotus, is Vice President of Creative Design and Global Marketing, but given his other priorities the role is likely to be more that of a brand ambassador. Swizz is however a talented artist, so perhaps there’s more that he can contribute.

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Lotus explain the rationale behind the decision with 3 simple statements;

1. Like Group Lotus , he means business: He’s a risk taker with considerable credentials including music producer, rapper, designer AND painter.
2. Like our cars, he’s multi award winning: This year he shared a Grammy Award with Jay-Z.
3. Like Group Lotus he keeps good company: This man regularly works with the likes of Bono, Kanye West, Beyoncé and Alicia Keys.

If you’re struggling to find any mention of “..because he can help us make our cars the best in the world”, then maybe that’s because Lotus CEO Dany Bahar is “..not a car guy”.

To quote one of the fans on Lotus Cars’ facebook page, “..How Vulgar. Some sort of Rap Artiste! Colin would be spinning at 2,500 rpm in his grave.”

In response and to quickly underline the value of their new creative partnership, Lotus posted a link to Swizz’ new single ‘International Party’ which is also part of the new Reebok campaign, featuring Alicia Keys and the Lotus Evora “Concept Bespoke”. It’s certainly a New Era for the Norfolk marquee.

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