This three-part series is a write-up of my week at the Rap Snacks and ONErpm sponsored events from 3/27-3/31
Full discourse – I do not eat potato chips – at least not anymore. Although I co-host a hip-hop podcast and participate weekly in hip-hop culture, I am not the type to spend my Monday evenings fighting the unrelenting madness that is Atlanta traffic to come to a media/artist PR mixer sponsored by a potato chip company whose brand I was familiar with but unacquainted with. And it is not that I do not love potato chips (my childhood fave was Funyuns), it is more of the reality of being forty-one and my body not bouncing back to eating a bag of chips as in my more youthful years.
Yet still, there is something in the air – the energy and the vibe is different when hip-hop is involved. Full disclosure, there is the incandescent aroma of cannabis in the parking lot as I am approaching the venue that lets you know Atlanta has been California-cated , but hip-hop-related events just hit your senses in a way that your usual casual mixers do not.
The first thing I took notice of prior to entering the venue was that there were artists everywhere. A multitude of artists in one space is indicative of the importance of this thirty-minute panel Q&A and mixer I almost missed due to the after-mentioned traffic.
I followed the sounds of music and the crowd and found myself at the front door of this intimate business office with three conference rooms in one small space, fitting about one hundred people but this room is the classic case of quality over quantity – the people in this room matter from the artist to the media, to the marketing directors. These are the people who have their boots on the ground to keep the culture alive. It was truly an invite-only type of occasion.
The DJ was playing my personal favorite track off Metro-Boomin’s latest opus “Metro-Spider”
Featuring Yung Thug, and I went straight in and posted up next to the DJ as I am prone to do. Yes, I am the guy bothering the DJ at all the events.
Positioned behind the DJ area on a counter was one the actual sponsor of the evenings and weeks festivities: Rap snacks Potato Chips. As I previously stated, I do not eat potato chips so I glanced, took some pictures, and kept it pushing….
Rap Snacks has partnered with local music distribution company ONErpm
For the mixer and concurring show the following evening and Nick Love (most notable for his work with Jeezy) spoke some insightful and brutally honest words about the state of the music business and today’s artists in general.
In between all of this, I happened to notice that those bags of rap snacks were disappearing fast so I grabbed one and held tight. For my daughter of course because I do not eat chips.
The panel consisted of Rap Snacks Executives Bridget Evans, Kristian Newman, and Dee Clark.
The panel members were engaging, astute, very informative, and funny overall. VP of marketing Bridget Evans informed us all that Rap Snacks has actually been around since the mid-90s (1994). I was astounded by this piece of information. It is not too often that a hip-hop-based business or entity has been around since 1994 and is literally having its tipping point moment now almost thirty years since its inception
The pairing of ONErpm and Rap Snacks is one that is encouraging artists to look beyond the music and to look at the full picture and scope of artistry, branding, and putting your career in your hands.
The panel was, not only about the brand but also about hip hop in the artists which made it a viable cultural piece. When I asked the question in regards to a statement that they made about letting the artist back be the artist, I mentioned Kanye West.
They were very astute in replying back to my question that there are certain checkmarks and boundaries and parameters that they look for in the artists before they do put them on the cover of their bag of potato chips.
The panel discussion concluded and after meeting a few other media and artists I left with a greater sense of the empowerment of artists, the importance of supporting black business and commerce, hell just supporting each other overall – For a media/PR mixer, it had a grassroots community feel that is sorely lacking in the community quite frankly.
Between the environment, live DJ, and excellent panel – it really made me look forward to and have more anticipation for the following evening’s event and showcase of the artists I was going to be watching and covering.
I got home and looked at the bag of chips that I do not eat and I said to myself: “Well these are Lil Baby’s Cheese Puffs… That’s not really chips…”
