The Snack that Can Rap
Rap Snacks were created in 1994 but started releasing chips in 2003 and have just started to gain popularity in these last few years.
A wide variety of rap snacks have gained traction these past few months.
CEO James “Fly” Lindsay was inspired by his upbringing in Philadelphia to launch Rap Snacks in 1994 alongside hip hop star Master P, who he was brand manager for at the time. “Unfortunately, when you grow up in the inner-city, a lot of times snacks become your breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” he says. Rap Snacks were originally available in only Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Around 2011, the brand was losing attention. “I never stopped making them,” Lindsay says. “…For a while we’d just kind of operate them in three or four marketplaces. You know, until I felt like there’s a lot more opportunity to come back and repackage the brand.” That opportunity arrived in July 2016 and marked Rap Snacks’ relaunch. Now they’re found in convenience stores from Maine to Florida, some parts of the Midwest, and Texas.
After the company was relaunched in 2016, the snacks started to gain more attention on social media when rappers like Lil Yatchy, Cardi B, and Migos were featured in collaborations. This was around the time these artists were just starting to blow up. Naturally people wanted to try these new snacks with their favorite artists’ faces on them.
“It was five years ago and the first group was The Migos. They came out with a song called ‘Bad and Bougie’ which really kind of blew up. I knew through my work with Meek [Mill] and listening to these guys that they were very talented, and I knew eventually they were just going to blow up,” explains Lindsay.
Lindsay realized that the best way for his company to come back into the limelight was to get more up and coming rappers on his snacks. Once they started to blow up, more sales and more attention would go to the company as a result.
“I’ve never tasted this flavor before in any chips I’ve ever ate.” – Gage Douglas ‘23. Gage tried Rick Ross’s collab with rap snacks and the flavor was Sweet Chili Lemon Pepper.
Today, Rap Snacks is expected to be worth 2 billion dollars(Forbes). The company has seen a great deal of success in recent years and will continue to grow if they continue to release new collaborations with popular rappers.
