Rap Snacks Help Nurture Hip-hop Audience

If the best way to a music fan's heart (and wallet) is through their stomach, then James Lindsay may be on to something. As the founder and CEO of Rap Snacks, a hip-hop-inspired snack food company, Lindsay has brought together the worlds of potato chips and music in a new and interesting way.

Lindsay started the Philadelphia-based entity in 1994, because he wanted to give urban snack lovers an alternative.

"There was a void in the marketplace that no one wanted to fill," he says. "I wanted to create an option for young inner-city kids in the snack food marketplace. I wanted to give them something they could relate to and see themselves in."

Lindsay began using rap artists on his bags 21/2 years ago. "I was running [indie record label] Exit 7A Records, which released Poor Righteous Teachers," he says. "The bag I had in mind initially featured a character called MC Potato. [Putting rappers on the bags] was a great idea, because it took advantage of reaching the same audience."

Lindsay met Universal senior VP of marketing Jackie Rhinehart through a mutual friend. He shared his idea with Rhinehart, who thought the cross-marketing opportunity would be a good one for the label, so they struck a deal.

With Universal's involvement, Rap Snacks' sales doubled, according to Lindsay, who declined to discuss specific figures.

"We wanted to use it in the initial trial run when we were establishing Universal Records," Rhinehart says. "With a million [packages sold] per month, [Rap Snacks] offered an additional visibility greater than we could have afforded. That's a great deal more than we could have done with flyers and stickers. It re-established a presence of mind with our consumers, especially our teens in urban areas."

"Initially, Universal picked the artists featured on the bags, and we went from there," Lindsay notes. "The artists loved it. They had a point-of-purchase display in stores where their fans were. Many began using the bags as collectibles."

Rhinehart agrees. "They liked the notoriety of having [their faces on the bags]. We used [Rap Snacks] for those artists who were primarily up-and-coming. We have also used it to refreshen a campaign of artists with new releases. But we don't do them once the artist is of a magnitude that it could be a paid endorsement."

Rap Snacks features such established and new Universal artists as Baby, Lil' Romeo, Magic, Master P, and Pastor Troy, among others.

Ten different snacks—including Cheezie Nacho, Honey Dew Cheese Curls, and Platinum Bar-B-Que chips—are currently available. They are sold in small, local stores in cities across the country. No major supermarkets currently carry the products, but that may soon change.

Lindsay says he plans to launch a new snack and a bigger product size than the current 1- ounce bag. And he says he has a new distribution deal in the works that will put Rap Snacks in 30,000 new locations this fall. "That's the next step," he says. "We've built the demand, and now we want people to have more access."

While Universal and Rap Snacks have gone separate ways—the parting was amicable; Universal artists are still featured—Lindsay is talking to other labels about using their acts.

"Rap music is influencing the purchase of a lot of product right now," Lindsay says of using hip-hop to market his product. "It's all about going after the consumer in an aggressive way."