Everything About Rap Snacks Is Amazing

At Denny’s, my neighborhood convenience store in Southwest Atlanta, it’s not uncommon to find myself eye-to-eye with Fetty Wap. I’ll be shuffling through bags of mixed nuts and whoa—there he is. Though he looks much more like the video game version of a wax statue than his true self, his face—and a handful of other rappers—decorates the packaging of Rap Snacks. Each artist gets their own flavor; Fetty Wap’s got Honey Jalapeño. And then there’s Lil Boosie’s Louisiana Heat, Fabolous’ New York Deli Cheddar, Migos’ Sour Cream with a Dab of Ranch, and Romeo’s Bar-B-Quin with My Honey.

CEO James “Fly” Lindsay was inspired by his upbringing in inner-city 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 Philly. Around 2011, the brand got quiet. “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.

“[As a kid,] I used to buy all these little small bags of chips and put them in one bag and shake them up,” Lindsay says, crediting the experience for refining his taste buds. That’s also part of why he prioritizes the chips’ small price tag; a 1.5-oz. bag originally sold for $0.25 and today, it’s around $1.29 per 2.75-oz. bag.

Rap Snacks’ original mascot was MC Potato, but he was replaced with actual hip hop musicians after a year of production following a deal with Universal Records to feature the label’s artists. One of the first bags featured the New Orleans rapper then known as Lil Romeo (now he’s just Romeo Miller. Also, yes, he is Master P’s son), a sweet barbecue flavor dubbed Bar-B-Quin’ With My Honey. “I was the first one to develop the honey barbecue chip,” Lindsay says. (Herr’s rolled out the country’s first barbecue-flavored chip in 1958 Pennsylvania, but Lindsay’s is honey barbecue.) Since originally debuting 20-something years ago, Romeo’s chip remains the only O.G. variety that’s still in production—coincidentally, Rome bought the company in August 2007. His flavor has undergone five different bag designs, Lindsay says. An early rendition suggests, “Stay in School.”

Courtesy of Rap Snacks