Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott have been in the public eye since they were first spotted together in April of 2017. Since then, their relationship has gained massive amounts of publicity, especially after the announcement of the pregnancy and birth of baby Stormi. Now, the two have combined their influences and are working as a unit in promoting both of their brands through Scott’s Astroworld: Wish You Were Here tour.
The tour began in early November and ends on Dec. 22, making stops in 26 cities across the U.S. At each of the stops, Jenner’s makeup line, Kylie Cosmetics, will be selling a special edition lip kit alongside all of Scott’s tour merchandise. The lip kit includes three liquid lipsticks, and features the phrase “I went to ASTROWORLD and all I got was this f**kin lip kit” written on the box.
Kylie Jenner will have up Astroworld Lipkits on tour pic.twitter.com/VAtitT0p61
— TRAVIS SCOTT FANPAGE (@YamzInTheTrap) November 8, 2018
It seems to be a common phenomenon for celebrity power couples to use their relationships to further their business ventures through couple branding.
This practice can also be recognized in The Carters, or Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s music collaboration. The two released their first album together titled “Everything Is Love” in June. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 charts, with 123,000 album equivalent units in its first week.
The Carters also went on tour together for their 2014 On the Run Tour and earlier this year were on tour again for their On the Run II Tour. With 30 stops in the U.S. and 18 in Europe, the tour brought in about $253.5 million, a 132 percent increase compared to the 2014 tour, according to Billboard Boxscore.
Reality star Kim Kardashian and rapper Kanye West have also collaborated in the past. They dropped their kid’s clothing line TheKidsSupply in May 2017, featuring a variety of outerwear pieces, dresses, t-shirts, hats, socks, and the infamous YEEZY Boost 350 v2 in toddler sizes, all of which sold out almost immediately after their release.
While couple collaborations may seem empowering and inspiring, it is troublesome for others in the business. Nicki Minaj, in particular, tweeted her frustrations with Jenner promoting Scott’s Astroworld album back in August. She said, “I put my blood sweat & tears in writing a dope album only for Travis Scott to have Kylie Jenner post a tour pass telling ppl to come see her & Stormi…” [sic]. At the time, Scott’s “Astroworld” album and Minaj’s “Queen” album were competing for the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts.
I put my blood sweat & tears in writing a dope album only for Travis Scott to have Kylie Jenner post a tour pass telling ppl to come see her & Stormi. lol. Im actually laughing. #Queen broke the record of being number 1 in 86 countries. Thank Jesus & thank you to my fans.
— QUEEN (@NICKIMINAJ) August 19, 2018
Scott’s Astroworld album still stands at number eight on the Billboard 200 charts, having peaked at No. 1. Nevertheless, the Astroworld: Wish You Were Here tour still has 20 more stops left across the U.S, with tickets ranging from 36 dollars to upwards of 100 dollars based on the location of the seat and city.
Celebrities combining their influences and art together seems to create powerful units that benefit not only the celebrities, but their agencies, advertisers, and more, as seen through their popularity from consumers. In this way, celebrity couples are capitalizing on their relationships to maximize their outreach and promote their individual brands.
