There were thousands of headphones to be had at CES, and an almost absurd number of them wear a celebrity's name. It's reached the point where even Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt and Motorhead frontman Lemmy have branded headphones.
But they're all playing catch-up to Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, the rapper, actor and entrepreneur behind the headsets from SMS Audio. Unlike most celebs who sign endorsement deals and collect fat royalty checks, 50 Cent actually owns SMS and personally oversees the design, production and marketing of his headphones and, soon, wireless speakers. It's his name on the box, his money on the table and his reputation on the line — and he says that makes all the difference.
We sat down with 50 last week at CES to talk about celebrity headphones, why "good enough" is good enough for headphones and how he's doing good while earning money.
Wired: So this is your third CES. There are a ton of celebrity audio brands here. Is it easy to get lost in the shuffle?
50: The first time I came to CES, all I had was a 3D rendering of a headphone. After that I acquired Kono Audio. They they were actually able to help me make my vision for SMS Audio come together. The people that are here from music culture are here under different circumstances.
Wired: Tell me about that. Lemmy is here showing off his new headphones. He had a noticeable lack of excitement for the product and it was pretty clear he wasn’t involved at any in-depth level.
50: The finances that the major record companies would make off a new artist have shifted. They can’t put together the same marketing campaigns that they’ve put together in the past because they’re not earning the same amount. So more and more you’re going to see artists open to brand extension opportunities.
Wired: When you first came to CES, and you were showing off your headphones, it was originally a partnership with another company...
50: Yeah, Sleek.
Wired: And then that went sour...
50: Yeah, and Sleek really was the experience of me finding the wrong group of people. Because even in that company, I was the only financial investor.
Wired: But you didn’t have total control over what would have been put out, right?
50: Right. So, it was back to the drawing board. I sought out the right company to actually associate myself with, Kono Audio, and then I acquired it so it could become my vision for high-end audio products, SMS. The first question I asked myself was, ‘So why should someone actually buy your headset?’
Wired: That’s a good question because your headphones are really, really not cheap. [They go for $100 to $400 a pair]
50: These are the questions I ask myself, the process I go through in my head when developing what those products are actually going to be. I use my personal judgement on why it’s cool or why it’s not, having it be wireless and comfortable. And durable. What’s important is durability because I’ve broken so many pairs of headsets in the past, traveling and doing different things.
Wired: That’s one of the things that I really like. You can twist the hell out of the headsets and they won’t break.
50: We have a specific polyurethane that we utilized to actually make the headsets stronger. And we have on-board batteries because I didn’t want to have you making an investment on the headphones, then have to make small investments continuously to keep your headphones up and running.
Wired: There’s not a lot of stuff that’s built to last nowadays.
50: A lot of times companies don’t fix things that don’t have to be fixed, because when you break it, they see that it’s not stopping your from going out and buying another. But, me personally, I’m making sure that what I’m presenting is the best that I can. I’m putting my name and my face to it. The companies that are making those other products, they’re putting someone else’s name and face to it. And it’s cool because those people, they just take the check. But there’s a difference between having a licensing agreement and actually outright owning a company, like I do.
Wired: Timbaland’s an investor in SMS Audio, right? What’s he bring to the table?
50: Maybe down the line he might do something with his own headset line. But right now he’s helping me making decisions on the signature sounds of new products coming from SMS Audio.
Wired: That’s actually something I want to ask you about. No disrespect, your headphones sound really good, but they’re not audiophile quality headphones.
50: Name a product that you would say is audiophile quality.
Wired: Audeze. Or Grado.
50: And how much they charge you for that?
Wired: Audeze, about $1,000. Grado, a good set runs $500 to about $1,500.
50: Ok, look. The audiophile is someone that's very very advanced. They can sit there and pick apart the technology. It's amazing. That person is so far into technology that you might be from another planet. You see what I'm saying? They're hearing stuff that other people are not even hearing.
The majority of the people who’re listening to music are listening to it while watching a tiny screen with YouTube and it doesn’t even produce what an audiophile would be comfortable listening to. So audiophile, when you say that to the general public, you’re talking about a platform of people that have completely decided to explore music as a fetish or who’re really passionate about it.
It’s like comparing a Nikon to a RED. They’re world’s apart. But that doesn’t mean Nikons aren’t good cameras. With our headphones, we’re not making REDs. We’re making Nikons.
Wired: You work with the United Nations’ World Food Program...
50: With SMS Audio, we provide 250 meals for every headset that’s sold domestically through SMSaudio.com. I want to try and create a standard where I can bring that sort of thing across all brand extension opportunities and I hope to influence my peers with this too.
Wired: You do something similar with Street King, your energy drink outfit. You call it conscious capitalism.
50: Yeah, conscious capitalism. I’m looking forward to other people in music culture and hip-hop culture being more involved with philanthropy, or making those who are more visible.
Wired: That’s a somewhat radical idea for hip-hop.
50: Probably more radical for hip-hop than any other genre of music because a lot of the talent comes from low-income situations and the messaging, the consistent theme is, ‘If it ain't about money, it ain’t about shit.’
Wired: There is a rampant materialism.
50: Right. And it comes from not having.
Wired: They’re about to kick me out. Before we wrap this up, tell me about the new products you have coming out this year.
50: Well, we have a Bluetooth speaker that has like five different settings. It’s cool, because when we first came out, I wouldn’t even associate myself with Bluetooth technology because the sound quality was bad, but the technology has finally gotten to a point where it’s good enough. Besides that, you won’t see a lot of new stuff because what we have out already is getting better.
