Last weekend's Live 8 concerts were promoted as an international event with the goal of bringing world leaders' attention to the death occurring in African nations. But one rapper used the benefit as a major branding campaign for himself.

In a new rendition of the old song "Hey, Hey," Snoop Dogg encouraged the crowd of hundreds of thousands to repeatedly chant his name -- building his personal brand live in front of a London audience and on televisions around the world.

The vanity in Snoop's behavior is indicative of much of the rap music today. It has become all too common to hear rappers repeating their own names, or those of fellow rappers, along with the often explicitly sexual lyrics common in the genre.

This vain behavior seems almost exclusive to rap music. Even Michael Jackson, a master of self promotion, didn't pollute his lyrics with mentions of his own name in his music. And I can't recall any song by the Beatles, Elvis, Madonna or any other non-rap superstars where the artists promote their own names -- especially to the extent of rappers like Snoop.

Bringing such self promotion to what is supposed to be a charitable event just reinforces the notion, "It's all about me."

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy hearing "Gin and Juice" on a hot day, as well as a number of other tunes from the genre. But liking the music and respecting the musician for his vanity don't have to go hand-in-hand.