Hip-hop toy line on tap from Knowles
By Michael Paoletta
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Music World Entertainment founder/CEO Mathew Knowles, a proud grandfather who appreciates hip-hop, is partnering with Planet Toys to create the hip-hop-inspired toy line Baby Jamz, Billboard has learned.
Knowles, father and manager of pop star Beyonce, has entered into a 50/50 joint venture with the toy company.
A Baby Jamz CD series will accompany the toy line, which arrives in late July and will be sold exclusively at Wal-Mart. The initial Baby Jamz collection comprises five toys, including the Mixmaster Chair, and one CD, "Baby Jamz Nursery Rhymes, Vol. 1." Price points range from $6.99 to $24.99. (Six additional Baby Jamz-branded CDs are scheduled to arrive by year's end.)
Knowles' daughter Solange is a featured singer on the CD series, and her son Juelz is the face of Baby Jamz. His image appears on all packaging and in all TV and print ads.
Baby Jamz is the first music-intensive partnership for Planet Toys, which has licensing deals with General Motors, Harley-Davidson, Scholastic and other brands.
Discussions between Knowles and Planet Toys president/CEO David Canner began nearly a year ago. Knowles pointed to a lack of children's toys that reflect urban society as the main impetus. "There is a real opportunity for us to make a benchmark here, with Planet Toys making the toys and Music World making the music," Knowles said.
Canner concurred, adding, "With Baby Jamz, we're going after that hip-hop mom."
According to Canner, the second Baby Jamz toy collection will arrive next spring. It will include a "drum machine" that attaches to a car seat.
Looking ahead, Knowles said that Beyonce will be involved musically in upcoming Baby Jamz CDs. He also has plans to evolve Baby Jamz into a kids clothing line, linking it to House of Dereon, the high-end fashion line launched by his wife, Tina, and Beyonce, and its sister line, Dereon, helmed by Beyonce and Solange.
Reuters/Billboard
