To kick off 50 & Forever, Amazon Music today released Generational Queens, the first in an ongoing series of short films that will be released throughout the year from Amazon Music. Directed by Fenn O’Meally and featuring a Black, all-female cast, the film is centered around the first lady of hip-hop, Queen Latifah, and her groundbreaking, respect-demanding feminist anthem ‘U.N.I.T.Y.’—which turns 30 this year. The film captures the journey of music discovery and shows that when hip-hop fandom starts at home, it carries on for generations.

Amazon Music wanted to celebrate Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary but lacked credibility with fans. To change that, we needed to show more than the mainstream moments that casual observers know.

So, while platforms like Apple and Spotify attempted to show their understanding of the culture with data, we used film to portray the real, typically unseen moments that influence Hip-Hop fans’ everyday lives. Hence, “Generational Queens,” the first installment of our “50 & Forever”film series, was born.

The film reflects how everyday experiences look and feel different in the hands of Hip-Hop fans—from witnessing two sisters discover Queen Latifah's anthemic track "U.N.I.T.Y." while rummaging through Mom's old things to seeing Mom boast of the life she lived before parenthood.

“Generational Queens” demonstrates a nuance that established the credibility Amazon Music needed to set up every Hip-Hop experience they plan to launch in 2023 and beyond.

"50 & Forever” is Amazon Music’s campaign and programming for Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary. It is purpose-built to focus on enhancing the fan experience through immersive experiences that deepen their relationship with Hip-Hop culture’s past, present and future.

The key insight that grounded our work is that there are always more layers to uncover within this dynamic art form, especially for Hip-Hop fans.

So we developed an ownable approach through film that celebrates groundbreaking hits, speaks to community building through cross-generational influences and sets up brand actions that further amplify the culture and ignites fandom.

With “Generational Queens,” our goal was to center women in Hip-Hop as an unexpected yet powerful hero moment of our 50 & Forever campaign, giving a stage to iconic voices that have paved the last 50 years. And by collaborating with a director the culture loves, audiences saw Amazon putting the culture at the forefront, even

The film celebrates the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop as we follow two daughters who discover their mom’s Queen Latifah cassettes. After passively listening, their mom interrupts to show them how to properly jam out to the Queen. Fenn directs the scene with nuance and style, finding honest moments in our connective bond to music.

The launch of “50 & Forever” with “Generational Queens” was a stake in the ground and a major milestone in Amazon Music’s push to increase brand perception among hip-hop fans. Depicting hip-hop’s impact on a deeper referential level to true fans reached its intended impact.

On an organic level, the film garnered high engagement with over 1.3M views and a 79% positive sentiment across social media channels, 21% neutral, with no discernible negative conversation.

An impact and perceptual shift that is sure to be amplified throughout the ongoing paid media flight across YouTube and Amazon’s owned ecosystem.