To celebrate hip-hop’s grand anniversary, Sprite assembled a meeting of the generations for their “Sprite Hip-Hop 50” campaign: Latto remixing ‘Don’t Sweat the Technique’ by Eric B. & Rakim, bringing a 2023 vibe to the 1992 classic? We’re all here for it. And as unexpected as that combo hits at first, it resumes a tradition:
While other liaisons of corporations and the extended hip-hop universe often feel like the olympics of bandwagon-jumping and rather constructed, one could always count on Sprite ads to serve as a trustworthy barometer of, quote, “what’s in” ever since rap legend Kurtis Blow broke it down as a Sprite news anchor in 1986.
Sure, the beverage producer always relied on commercial juggernauts too, like Kris Kross rapping inside a giant Sprite can or Drake delivering yet another meme. But they didn’t shy away either from IYKYK hip-hop moments like when Kobe re-enacted the ‘Basketball Throwdown’ scene from Wild Style in 1998, casually weaving in the hip-hoop connection as well as proving a fine sense for the culture’s history.
Walking down memory lane, here’s to five more moments when Sprite, hip-hop and/ or basketball crossed paths: Sit back, grab whatever beverage you fancy and enjoy five commercials that aged like fine wine (ok, enough beverage puns for today):
“Grant Hill drinks Sprite?” (1996)
Breaking the fourth wall, using reverse psychology and starring Grant Hill (and his iconic FILA sneakers), this commercial has it all. Simple as that.
The World vs. King Zarkon (1998)
After Sprite had MC Shan and KRS-One reviving their feud in a boxing ring in 1996, they paid hommage to another iconic battle shortly after: The one between King Zarkon and a hip-hop version of Voltron from the eponymous animated 80s’ TV series. And even though the plot was rather neglectable (King Zarkon wants to destroy earth, because he’s ‘not feeling’ hip-hop), it’s still a 90s’ rap dream come true:
Created in a time when hip-hop was still in a state of shock following the eastcoast/westcoast rift and the deaths of Tupac and Biggie, it was a breath of fresh air to see rappers from the east coast (Fat Joe), west coast (Mack 10), the south (Goodie Mob) and midwest (Common) unite to form Voltron under the tutelage of oldschool veteran Afrika Bambaata.
Lil’ Yachty feat. Lebron James – “Cold Like a Sprite Soda” (2016)
Even though a Sprite ad with a NBA star not telling-people-to-drink Sprite sounds familiar, this one wins the day thanks to Lil’ Yachty and a combined 13 seconds of catchiness: “Cold like a Sprite Soda, cold like a Sprite soda, cold like Sprite soda”… Rap purists will hate us for this, but that piano beat is probably as haunting as the one from A Tribe Called Quest’s Sprite ad.
If Kobe was a farmer… (1999)
While the aforementioned Kobe commercial alongside Grandmaster Caz, Tim Duncan and Missy Elliott scores because of its (hip-hop) historical awareness and big beat, this one amazes with unagitated storytelling and visual artistry. Bonus points for the jazz-infused soundtrack.
Double Trouble: Nas & AZ (1998)
When Nas appeared in this year’s Sprite campaign on a remix of The Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’ from 1979, it was actually a full-circle moment. In 1998, the Queensbridge rapper and his partner-in-rhyme AZ already paid hommage to another iconic hip-hop moment: Just like Double Trouble’s stoop scene in Wild Style, they’re sitting on a porch, exchanging bars and are arguably delivering the most polysyllabic rhymes ever heard in a commercial. “But we kept it real, just playin’ it raw”, to quote AZ.
