Beer and Rap

A couple months ago I was talking to Mario and Nate at a party about rap records that we love. I mentioned the old St. Ides commercials from the 90's that Ice Cube and Wu-Tang and others had done, and they didn't know what I was talking about. I have been thinking about these ads for ages, wishing I still had those old video cassettes that I had taped back then with hours of Rap City videos and probably all those amazing St. Ides commercials.

My dreams have been answered by a special man named DJ Drank. He put together a compilation with all 30 commercials produced by E-Swift, Sir Jinx, DJ Pooh, and King Tee with a veritable who's who of golden era rappers including Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, Warren G, The Geto Boys, Eric B and Rakim, EPMD, MC Eiht, Yo Yo, and of course, The Wu. All the songs are short; most about one minute. But, for a fan of 90's rap like me, this is amazing.

These ads were surrounded by controversy in the media and by activist groups. St. Ides was accused of advertising their products to teenagers through the voices of their foul mouthed idols.

"Getcher girl in the mood quicker... Getcher jimmy thicker with St. Ides Malt Liquor." Mr. Ice Cubes

Who can say, but St. Ides sales increased by 25% that year. Not too shabby. Unfortunately, the ad campaign was dropped, simultaneously depriving the public of all these great malt liquor soaked ditties, as well as opening the door for Cristal to take the place as the drink of choice in the rap community (even if Cristal didn't want it).

I hope you enjoy this comp. as much as I do. Download it below (they are 320 kbps mp3s... the entire album is about 69 megs).

DJ Drank's Greatest Malt Liquor Hits