It might pain the hip-hop purists to admit it, but rapping and advertising are inexorably linked. Rappers name-drop brands almost instinctively, while advertising companies co-opt their language, their image, and their cool.
This wasn't always the case. It took a while, with a few very visible missteps along the way, before the ad industry really recognized the marketing potential of hip-hop, but once they did the floodgates were forever opened. Money talks, and when it came calling, rappers blurted out slogans, donned ridiculous outfits, and gulped down beverages with a smile. Sometimes they even got to rap.
For many years it seemed like these ads would be left to our fading memories and scrapbooked Source magazine letters to the editor about the dangers of selling out. But today, thanks to technology, we can revisit two-and-a-half decades of hip-hop television advertising.
So Complex did just that and found 50 of the most memorable and culturally significant commercials to feature rap cameos, from the fan favorites to the embarrassingly bad and the downright bizarre.
Written by Andrew Noz (@noz)
It might pain the hip-hop purists to admit it, but rapping and advertising are inexorably linked. Rappers name-drop brands almost instinctively, while advertising companies co-opt their language, their image, and their cool.
This wasn't always the case. It took a while, with a few very visible missteps along the way, before the ad industry really recognized the marketing potential of hip-hop, but once they did the floodgates were forever opened. Money talks, and when it came calling, rappers blurted out slogans, donned ridiculous outfits, and gulped down beverages with a smile. Sometimes they even got to rap.
For many years it seemed like these ads would be left to our fading memories and scrapbooked Source magazine letters to the editor about the dangers of selling out. But today, thanks to technology, we can revisit two-and-a-half decades of hip-hop television advertising.
So Complex did just that and found 50 of the most memorable and culturally significant commercials to feature rap cameos, from the fan favorites to the embarrassingly bad and the downright bizarre.
Written by Andrew Noz (@noz)
#50. MC Hammer for Cash 4 Gold
Year: 2009
The shelf life of a celebrity spokesperson is considerably longer than that of a rapper. Especially a multi-multi-platinum pop rapper. While his music has been long since left behind, the stuff of punchlines and shameful YouTube clips, Hammer still holds his own on the late-night commercial circuit. Check him here cracking bad jokes alongside Ed McMahon in an attempt to convince old people who are scared to go to the pawn shop that mailing their gold and jewels away would be wiser.
#49. Jay Electronica for Mountain Dew Code Red
Year: 2010
After several years of carefully crafting his mystique, underground eccentric Jay Electronica decided that his grand public entrance would be a commercial for Mountain Dew's worse-than-crab-juice sister drink, Code Red. The ad found Jay awkwardly entertaining a crowd with a weird, almost radio-polished alternate mix of his "The Announcement." Much like drinking Mountain Dew Code Red, the end result is not without its disconcerting effects, but at least it gave Jay Elect some much-deserved screen time outside of the Internet circles he usually runs in.
#48. Run DMC for The Gap
Year: 1999
The Gap has never had a particularly smooth relationship with hip-hop. They enlisted Missy for a Madonna commercial, called on Common for the horrendous "Holiday in Your Hood" campaign, and, weirdly enough, even once brought in pre-hip-hop revolutionary rappers the Watts Prophets for an awkward spoken-word piece. Although Run and D were past their prime when they recorded this jingle, it was nice to see the legends shilling for the jeans in a semi-respectable manner.
#47. Memphis Bleek for Garnier Fructis
Year: 2010
"Bleek can be one hit away his whole career/As long as I'm alive, he's a millionaire," Jay-Z once promised. Either he's since rescinded on that offer, or Memph Bleek is just incredibly passionate about Garnier Fructis shampoo. You let your shit bubble quietly, and then you rinse and repeat.
#46. Young MC for Pepsi
Year: 1990
Arriving relatively early to the hip-hop party, Pepsi called on Young MC as spokesperson for their "Cool Cans" campaign. The subsequent commercial is cheesy and very dated, but the "Bust a Move" MC is actually rapping pretty well here, with a stop-and-go style that even shows off his dictionary prowess: "To be cool and be somewhat respectable/Pick up Pepsi in these hype receptacles."
#45. Dem Hoodstarz for CW's King of Queens
Year: 2006
In one of the strangest co-signs in hip-hop history, a local Bay Area CW affiliate hired hyphy one-hit wonders Dem Hoodstarz to re-record that one hit, "Grown Man On," in tribute to King of Queens reruns. And that's how Kevin James killed the hyphy movement.
#44. Heavy D, Kid N Play, and Kris Kross for Sprite
Year: 1990-1993
Sprite was one of the earliest adopters of hip-hop and deserves points for sticking with the culture for the long haul. They did, however, spend a few years getting their sea legs right when dealing with the genre. As dated as their earliest commercials from 1991 look—they feature Heavy D and Kid N Play draped in garish lemon-and-lime colored outfits—they were a step in the right direction. Sprite gave it another shot in '93 with Kris Kross, who by then had morphed into their uncomfortable Da Bomb hardcore image, and got a little closer to the street aesthetic the company was aiming for.
Kid 'n Play Sprite Ad
#43. Curren$y for P. Millers
Year: 2004
Before ascending to stoner-rap royalty, Curren$y had a few years as a third stringer on the No Limit bench under his belt. Master P put him to work though, here having him kick a few slick bars in the name of the regrettably ugly P. Miller sneaker line.
#42. Vanilla Ice for Castle Lite
Year: 2009
Though Robert Van Winkle spent decades disowning the embarrassment that was his career as Vanilla Ice, he was all too quick to jump back into character (with his name written all over his shirt so he doesn't forget it) when South African brewery Castle Lite wrote him what we're guessing was a monstrous check. The company's nostalgia for early-'90s pop rap runs deep—they also put Ice's one-time rival MC Hammer back in his shiny suit for a similarly themed commercial a year later.
#41. Biz Markie for Radio Shack
Year: 2009
Between his Yo Gabba Gabba! guest appearances and the ubiquitous Heiniken "Just a Friend" singalong commercial, Biz Markie's career has gotten a serious
boost from the television world. But it's this holiday Radio Shack commercial that might make the most creative use of the Biz, flipping his "Oh snap!" proclamation from the same song into a short and surreal plug for a digital camera sale.
#40. Ludacris for Pepsi
Year: 2002
Depicting Luda rocking at a decrepit house party in the middle of nowhere and the confused fans who fail to realize what's going on inside, this Pepsi spot is a particularly tame commercial. Yet it somehow ended up on the radar of Fox News pundit and vocal hip-hop hater Bill O'Reilly. O'Reilly took Pepsi to task for promoting a rapper whose music displayed a "life of guns, violence, drugs, and disrespect of women." He called for a boycott of the company, who quickly kowtowed to his demands and pulled the commercial, thus saving the children everywhere from viewing a potentially destructive 30-second clip where a famous rapper shills soda innocuously.
#39. Styles P for And1 Kevin Garnetts
Year: 2001
While Jada was cashing Reebok checks for their Allen Iverson campaign, the ever-derivative And1 called on his Lox partner to spit a few bars on behalf of KG. Lack of originality aside, it's a strong musical tie-in.
#38. Snoop Dogg for Nike
Year: 2002
Promoting Nike Basketball, Snoop plays MC to Bootsy's band of weirdos in this psychedelic throwback to the days of P-Funk and excessively Afro'd ballers. The video's style hinted at the faded and fuzzed-out direction that Snoop would later head in when he filmed the clip for his hit "Sexual Seduction."
#37. Master P for Snickers
Year: 2009
With his rap-star days behind him, Master P probably wasn't hurting for money when he signed on with Snickers, but he may have been starved for attention. The candy bar brought in the No Limit impresario, now renamed "Master P-Nut," as part of an absurdist campaign that also featured "Patrick Chewing." It was funny, even if some might have felt it was mocking rappers' love of ridiculously big, ostentatious chains. The nerve, huh?
#36. Kool Keith, Mia X, Amil, Lady of Rage, and Bahamadia for Sprite's "Five Deadly Women" Campaign
Year: 1999
Hot on the heels of the successful Voltron campaign, Sprite launched a similar series where a gang of female rappers engaged in a lyrical and martial arts battle with Kool Keith. Unfortunately, "The Five Deadly Women" was a bit of a misfire. The ads were visually cluttered and blindingly colored, but who could be mad at underground favorites like Lady of Rage or Bahamadia (at no point in time was anyone clamoring for Amil, regardless of what Hov might say) getting some shine? And it was definitely nice to see the father of hip-hop oddity, Kool Keith, in regular television rotation.
Kool Keith Sprite Ad
#35. Shock G for Nike
Year: 1994
For no reason in particular, Nike called on Shock G in his Humpty Hump guise to play MC to Charles Barkley in this early '90s clip. His cameo is bizarre but all too brief, and sadly this would be the only ad campaign to make use of the nosed one. It seems like an obvious missed opportunity for Burger King, whose bathroom he once got busy in.
#34. T.I. for Chevy Impala SS
Year: 2007
Okay, so the modernized Chevy Impala SS was not quite the car that T.I. had in mind when rapping on "Top Back." But when Chevy called upon him and Jeezy (blink and you'll miss the Snowman) for this commercial, it was a big step forward for the longstanding relationship between hip-hop and classic-car culture. At least until Tip got caught up on illegal firearms charges and Chevy dumped the campaign. The Chevy execs might've known what to expect had they actually listened to the album version of the song, where he brags, "Got the Beretta in vision/And ready to pop the clip in."
#33. Run DMC and Max Headroom for Coke
Year: 1988
Though best known for their Adidas collaborations, Run-DMC also lent their image to Coke for a short while. This little-known ad teamed them up with another '80s icon—the first computer-generated video and talk show host, Max Headroom. Unfortunately, only a short fragment of it exists on Youtube, so you're going to have fill in the blanks and imagine the leaps of plot that brought a TV with a creepy, stuttering mechanical head on it to a party at Run's house.
#32. MC Hammer for Taco Bell
Year: 1989
Being a celebrity is truly a gift and a curse. In his prime, MC Hammer enjoyed screaming throngs of fans, but their presence made it difficult for him to go to Taco Bell. Fortunately, Hammer was not only a great entertainer but a master problem-solver. In a feat of MacGuyver-esque ingenuity, he was able to use his iconic parachute pants as an actual parachute to make a run for the border with ease.
#31. Goodie Mob, Fat Joe, Common, Mack 10, and Afrika Bambaataa for Sprite's "Voltron" Campaign
Year: 1998
Recognizing hip-hop's much-needed sense of coast unity in the wake of Tupac's and Biggie's murders, Sprite brought together representatives from the four main hip-hop regions in one of their more popular commercials. Like the other Sprite campaigns, it plays off nostalgia too—harking back to '80s cartoon favorite Voltron and bringing in none other than the mighty Zulu Nation founder Afrika Bambaataa to play the head in their cross-continental robot.
#30. Jay-Z for Heineken
Year: 2003
Despite an apparent preference for higher-brow beverages, Jay-Z lent himself and his "Excuse Me Miss" to this Heineken commercial. For the right price he can make your beer sell better. It was also rather etherous that he managed to work a bad pun about his Nas diss record into an ad that he was probably paid millions of dollars to appear in.
#29. Snoop Dogg for Vybemobil
Year: 2008
Snoop Dogg is something of a minor commercial whore. Over the years he's lent his image and music to Nike, Pepsi, Adidas, Chrysler, Orange Mobile, Orbit gum, and, of course, St. Ides. He's not shy about branding, and he's seemingly willing to indulge himself in whatever bizarre or hilarious scenario ad makers think up for him. But none of them come close to the level of weirdness on display in this commercial for the German cell provider Vybemobil. A fat guy sitting on the floor looks at a turtle that is disguised as an island. He pulls out his phone and begins to dial a number. But before he can finish, Snoop emerges from his refrigerator dressed as German pop singer Roy Black and proceeds to croon his hit song "Schön Ist Es auf der Welt zu Sein."
#28. Kurtis Blow for Sprite
Year:
Back in 1986 Sprite brought in Kurtis Blow to act as a rap anchorman in this early ad. With Kurtis' stardom diminishing and the "Now More Than Ever" motto lacking the ring that "Obey Your Thirst" would have, the commercial didn't exactly light up the world. But it did mark the beginning of Sprite's relationship with hip-hop music and culture that would last for years that followed.
#27. MC Hammer for British Knights
Year: 1990
Today British Knights might seem like the last sneaker brand that would bring in rappers as spokespeople. But they were actually one of the first, having run ads with Kool Moe Dee and attaching MC Hammer to this memorable "Listen to Your Mother" commercial. Despite their aggressive courting of the market, BK struggled to maintain the traction that they gained in the hip-hop community, thanks in part to a widespread and wholly inaccurate rumor that the company was run by the British Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
#26. Redman for Karl Kani
Year:
Karl Kani brought in Brick City's finest for this Rap City staple. Red makes no compromises here, sounding as hard as he did on any studio track. So hard, in fact, that at the end of his verse the commercial comes to a hard freeze frame for no reason in particular.
#25. Tribe Called Quest for Sprite
Year: 1994
Though Tribe never participated in the more iconic Sprite rap commercials, they did put together this one-off ad for the beverage back in the mid-'90s. In it Tip recites a beatniky spoken-word poem while hip-hop kids dance under freeways and giant floating Sprite cans.
#24. Eminem for Chrysler
Year: 2011
The full version of this ad was aired once—during the Superbowl—which only added to the cinematic feel of this uniquely American ad. We didn't love his Lipton Brisk Iced Tea spot from earlier in the night, but this one featured Em riding around Detroit—the epicenter of the Great Recession—as the slow guitars of “Lose Yourself” played and a voiceover spoke on the one-time greatness of this country. As Em hopped out the whip and stood in front of a theater rocking black leather, we—hey wait! This is all starting to sound awfully familiar...
#23. Rakim for St. Ides
Year: 1992
Point blank, there is no product more synonymous with hip-hop advertising than St. Ides. For the first half of the '90s, the praises of the crooked letter brew were sung by most of rap's greats: Biggie, Pac, Rakim, Cube, Dre, Snoop, EPMD, Cypress Hill, King Tee, the Wu, and the Geto Boys. Mentioning all of these ads individually would take up about a quarter of this entire list, but they demand acknowledgement. Though the campaign was met with much controversy, and maybe it was deserved—these rappers were effectively selling affordable poison to the black community and, presumably, the youth that bought their records—the musical integrity of the entire run is uniformly unquestionable. Take Rakim for example. It was easy to put aside the hypocritical politics of a devout Five Percenter slanging St. Ides when the God simply sounded so smooth. Too bad the same can't exactly be said for the beverage he was shilling.
#22. Fat Boys for Swatch
Year: 1985
In what might be the earliest rapper/brand alliance, the Fat Boys formed a long-standing relationship with the then-nascent Swiss wristwatch company, Swatch. The commercial deal was fortuitous, as it afforded Prince Markie Dee, Kool Rock-Ski, and Buffy the Human Beatbox an opportunity to sneak onto MTV at a time when the station wasn't playing rap video yets. In the first the trio crashes a stuffy high-class party to rock a version of their hit "Stick 'Em," now rechristened "Swatch 'Em." For the second a square couple gets an unexpected Christmas gift in the form of Buffy dropping in through the ceiling.
Fat Boys Christmas Swatch Ad
#21. Suga Free for R&J's Southern Home Cooking
Year: 2007
Ever the unlikely spokesperson, pimp-turned-rapper Suga Free turned up in this commercial for RJ's Southern Home Cooking of Downey, Calif., which is apparently "good than a mutha#$%*%." In the incredibly lo-fi ad, the Pomona Pimp does what he does best and talks down on his woman, threatening to beat her ass later. To compensate for such unapologetic misogyny in an ad for a soul-food restaurant, someone named Gumbo plays the voice of moral reason: "I'ma pray for him!" These types of homegrown ads where local rappers support local businesses are incredibly common in small markets. Unfortunately not enough of them have found their way to YouTube.
#20. Mos Def for Jordan Jordan XVI
Year: 2001
Mos didn't just lend his yodel-y post-rap jam "Umi Says" to the Jordan XVI campaign, he gave them his entire video. It looks like Nike just took the existing video straight out of Rap City and then edited in some arbitrary serious slo-mo sports shots and a couple cameos from Ray Allen and Derek Jeter. Regardless, much respect, indeed.
#19. Kanye for Absolut
Year: 2008
When Kanye linked with Absolut, the two concocted this fantastical series of commercials for "Be Kanye" pills, which, when taken as advised, can turn any party-goer into Kanye West. Perhaps dishonestly, Absolut neglected to mention how short the transformation lasts and how accessible the pills are for everyone else. Still, you wouldn't like to see how many bad ones you could bang if you were 'Ye for an hour or two?
#18. Ice Cube for Nike P Rod SB Dunks
Year: 2009
To promote Paul Rodriguez's Dunk line, Nike placed the skater in this homage to Ice Cube's "It Was a Good Day." The clip nails the vibe of the original video, with Cube himself even turning up for a cameo in what looks like the same blue lowrider. The commercial is so accurately executed, in fact, that you might forget that a shoe company just turned a song about about finding small victories amidst poverty and racial injustice into an ad about just skating and chilling out.
#17. Lootpack for Toyota of Oxnard
Year: 1995
Before building his rep as a reclusive genius beatsmith, Madlib was rapping about oil changes on behalf of local car dealerships alongside his old crew Lootpack. Though rhymes like "Parts & Service/X-Celence" might not have been quite on par with the Soundpieces LP, it certainly stands a few notches above the average car jingle.
#16. KRS-One and MC Shan for Sprite
Year: 1996
Before Biggie and Pac, and before Jay and Nas, the Bridge Wars stood as the unquestionable greatest rap feud. The Sprite team revisited the legendary battle for this one-off ad. Though Shan was well past his prime and KRS was getting up there in the years as well, they both hold their own, and it was simply a nice gesture to see the former foes share the ring in good spirit.
#15. Jay-Z and 50 Cent for Reebok
Year: 2003
It's funny how money changes situations. Once embittered on-record foes ("I'm about a dollar, what the fuck is 50 Cent?"), 50 Cent and Jay-Z were united for this Reebok commercial by a common goal of selling shoes. The brand not only enlisted the two rappers for this Just Blaze-produced banger and its accompanying commercial, they blessed both with their own personal sneaker lines, S. Carter and G-Unit. Each become a major hit for a brief period of time before immediately trickling down to TJ Maxx bargain bins everywhere.
#14. MC Hammer for Pepsi
Year: 1991
In this goofy Pepsi commercial, the narrator switches out Hammer's cup of their beverage with a Coke, and instead of rapping he slips into a rendition of Brazillian crooner Morris Albert's insufferable ballad "Feelings." Fortunately a kid in the crowd passes the Hammerman a cup of Pepsi and he resumes his regularly scheduled concert after dropping his own catchphrase (which Q-Tip chastised him for on "Check the Rhime"): "Proper!"
#13. LL Cool J for The Gap
Year: 1997
LL is yet another rapper who seems less than discriminate about which companies he's aligned himself with over the years: Sears, Old Spice, Coke, Dr. Pepper, Direct TV. But nothing will ever top his legendary Gap commercial. Undoubtedly the hardest commercial The Gap has ever produced, it finds LL rocking a capella and sounding like his old self. But here's the real subversion: While spitting this impassioned ode to The Gap, he rocked a baseball cap branded by the logo of rising would-be rival brand Fubu, and worked its name into his rhyme. Apparently, not being the type of company that would keep their eyes on the urban fashion market, The Gap left the hat in the ad unedited. LL cashed his Gap check and left a small, but significant mark on the face of corporate fashion.
#12. Scarface for Reebok's Steve Francis'
Year: 2002
After the success of the Allen Iverson/Jadakiss commercials, Reebok replicated the formula, this time showing some Houstonian love by linking then Rockets star Steve Francis with the 5th Ward's legendary Scarface. In his trademark rasp, 'Face lobbied for the Rockets' franchise guard over a Kanye West track that sounded like an outtake from The Fix.
#11. Jay-Z for HP
Year: 2006
Now both a businessman and a business, man, Jay broke down his business plan for this slickly subtle HP commercial. Jay, being Jay, slipped in the Dynasty sign and later bragged about the deal on "Kingdom Come": "Niggas spendin' 10 million in media on my hands."
#10. 50 Cent for Vitamin Water
Year: 2007
50's involvement in Vitamin Water, as an investor and not just a spokesperson, was highly publicized. While he may not have made the $400 million that was initially reported, it's safe to say he walked away with a pretty penny (Forbes estimates it at closer to a measly $100 million) and completely redefined the rap artist/advertiser relationship. For this goofy commercial for the product, 50 conducts a symphony orchestra that performs "In Da Club" and gets DJ Whoo Kid a primetime cameo. It's the classic fish-out-of-water cliché of the rap commercial. To ad execs there's nothing funnier than a rapper in a room full of stuffy squares or white old men using phrases like "true OG." To 50 nothing is funnier than making tons of money off, er, with old white men.
#9. Missy, The Lost Boyz, Nas, and AZ for Sprite's "Wild Style" Campaign
Year: 1997
By the late '90s, Sprite had solidified its position as a figurehead in hip-hop advertising, and the "Wild Style" campaign was yet another marketing coup for the company. The ads took the rappers of the day—Missy Elliott, The Lost Boyz, Nas, and AZ—and placed them in classic scenes from the biblical hip-hop film, Wild Style. The Lost Boyz are inserted into the film's climactic stage performance, Nas and AZ recreate Double Trouble's "Here's a little story that must be told..." stoop routine, and Missy narrates a re-enactment of the Cold Crush/Fantastic 5 basketball throwdown that instead pits Kobe Bryant against Tim Duncan. Like the best Sprite commercials, it drew a direct line between hip-hop's past and its present, appealing to both the listeners of its time and aging, nostalgic first-wave rap fans.
Lost Boyz Sprite Ad
#8. Rick Ross for Nike
Year: 2010
Bringing Ricky Rozay in for this commercial was a visionary decision on the part of Nike. Some ad wizards in their offices must've recognized the inherent absurdity of Ross wearing a chain with his own head on it. So, in a feat of Russian-doll logic, they gave that chain its own Rick Ross chain. And then they brought all of the heads to life. And then the heads said "BOOM." And then, hopefully, you bought some Nike sneakers. Or a Rick Ross album. Or a chain with your own face on it.
#7. Ice Cube and The Geto Boys for St. Ides
Year: 1991
As a California-based company, it only made sense that St. Ides' tastes in hip-hop leaned to the Left Coast, and who better to rep that coast than Ice Cube himself? Cube was one of the more prominently featured rappers in their cross-media campaign, recording a few solo cuts, several tracks with his Lench Mob posse, and this memorable collab with his Houston counterparts the Geto Boys. Not everybody loved Cube's involvement with the company, though. When Common Sense dissed him on the now classic "Bitch in Yoo," he took issue with the so-called righteous rapper's hypocritical allegiance to the malt liquor market, mocking him for "slangin' bean pies and St. Ides in the same sentence."
#6. Jay-Z for Rhapsody
Year: 2009
For this artful Rhapsody commercial and Blueprint 3 tie-in, Jay-Z recreates the artwork of his catalog. Jay reflects on his career quietly, stepping in and out of his each and every album cover in a faux one-shot style to the tune of "Run This Town." It's a simple enough concept, but executed with considerable grace.
#5. Kanye, The Game, and Ludacris for Boost Mobile
Year: 2004
As great as many hip-hop commercials are, very few have been able to produce great standalone records. For "Where Ya At?," Boost Mobile threw Kanye, The Game, and Ludacris in the studio at their respective primes, and they knocked out a genuine banger that only loosely nodded to the product it was selling. But lightning doesn't strike twice, and Boost proved far less tasteful when it relaunched the campaign a year later. "Where Ya At 2.0" featured an arbitrary lineup of vastly diminished quality: Young Jeezy, Jermaine Dupri, and Mickey Avalon.
#4. Grand Puba, Large Professor, and Pete Rock & CL Smooth for Sprite
Year: 1994
They weren't Sprite's first foray into hip-hop advertising, but the "Obey Your Thirst" freestyles were revolutionary nonetheless. Drawing on relatively underground acts like Grand Puba, Large Professor, and Pete Rock & CL Smooth, the campaign was strikingly naturalistic. Instead of glitz or dancers or musical product placement, the ads simply put respected MCs in a casual studio environment and had them do what they do best: rap. In an era when realness was a rising commodity, it was a bold statement for both the company and hip-hop at large.
Pete Rock & CL Smooth Sprite Ad
#3. Jadakiss for Reebok's Allen Iversons
Year: 2001
Never mind that Jada had recently dissed and dismissed the entire city of Philly as biters in the pages of XXL, he was repping for the city's patron saint on this Trackmasters-laced heater. Jada's raspy renegade style was such a perfect complement to the NBA's hip-hop ambassador that Reebok brought him back two years in a row.
Jadakiss 2002 Reebok Ad
#2. Biggie for St. Ides
Year: 1995
Biggie's contribution to St. Ides comes with a strange backstory. At the height of the bicoastal rap war, West Coast producer DJ Pooh was still manning the boards for the St. Ides commercials. He first laced Biggie with this beat, but, by either a bizarre twist of coincidence or a strategic sneak attack, he later passed it to the Dogg Pound, who proceeded to record their "no names named" subliminal diss record, "New York, New York." Snoop made the jabs at the five boroughs explicit by kicking down Manhattan skyscrapers in the video, and suddenly the city's biggest rapper was selling malt liquor to the tune of an anti-NYC record. On the plus side, Big Poppa sounds great on the beat, sending his own shots at Miller Lite: "Forget the great taste that's less filling/I'd rather have some Ides and some dimes in the crib chilling."
#1. Run DMC for Adidas
Year: 1987
Run-DMC probably didn't realize it at the time, but they were crafting one of marketing's most unforgettable jingles when they wrote "My Adidas." The Adidas/Run DMC deal not only set the standard for decades of hip-hop ad partnerships to come, it was also a landmark breakthrough for the career of a young go-getter named Lyor Cohen, who helped broker the deal. As legend would have it, Cohen flew out an Adidas executive to watch the trio perform at Madison Square Garden, where he saw a packed crowd waving their Adidas in the air. This short but sweet clip announced their official allegiance. In it Run and D only utter four syllables, but the visuals subtly allude to the rest of the song—through concert doors, on coliseum floors, etc., etc. Even then hip-hop advertising was trading on insider knowledge of the culture.