The Art of Selling Out

As part of their "Be The Match" campaign, the National Marrow Donor Program has been running a series of commercials featuring the song "Puppets" by celebrated underground hip-hop group Atmosphere (the commercials also feature Shaq, another hip-hop legend). It reminded us that hip-hop music has been used in commercials since the 80s, and can make for a pretty enjoyable 60 seconds or so. Other times, however, these ads come across as gimmicky, corny, or just plain ridiculous. Check out our list of the best, worst, and silliest hip-hop commercials EVER MADE! Also, who is the biggest sellout in hip-hop?


BEST:

10. The Neptunes for Nike

The Neptunes could have given this beat to any number of artists and had a hit single on their hands... but at least they didn't give it to Kelis.


9. Black Sheep hamsters for Kia

We read that Dres was suing Kia for using his likeness. He does look kinda rodent-esque.


8. Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and Just Blaze for Reebok

Jay knows a thing or two about epic collaborations. He teamed up with Biggie for Brooklyn's Finest, Eminem for Renegades, Nas for Black Republicans, and here, 50 Cent for a shoe commercial. Coincidentally, 50 cent is also how much it costs to make these shoes.


7. Dr. Dre for HP

Dre had a few of these commercials teasing Detox beats. This one wins out, though, because the beat playing in the studio is better than the "Shit Popped Off" beat from the Dr. Pepper commercial and Rhys Darby's beatbox is better than "Under Pressure", featured in another HP commercial.


6. Slum Village for Chevrolet

Hot rhymes and lowriders... we're sold. I mean, we're not actually sold. We're not gonna go purchase Chevy's right now or anything but...


5. Mos Def for Air Jordan XVI

It isn't rocket science: placing a great song in an ad makes the commercial better no matter how unrelated the song is to your product.  Nike understood this.  Unfortunately, some people still haven't realized that the opposite is also true.


4. Jay-Z for Rhapsody

This is such a great concept. It's just too bad he didn't morph into a pile of white instruments to recreate the Blueprint 3 cover as well.


3. Nas and Az for Sprite

It's good to see that, even with the fortune and fame, Nas and AZ still know how to keep it wheel.


2. Ludacris, The Game, and Kanye West for Boost Mobile

How did such a broke ass phone company get some of the biggest stars in the game? Who cares. It's a great song. But we heard it took Game forever to write 4 bars without name-dropping other phone companies.


1. Snoop Doggy Dogg and Nate Dogg for St. Ides

St. Ides tastes like piss, but you would never know it from all the rappers that were singing the malt liquor's praise back in the day. This radio spot was the best, though, because above all else, its just a damn good classic sounding Snoop song, Nate Dogg hook and all.

WORST:

5. Fat Boys for Swatch

Where do we start... the "genuine" Swatches? the random and offbeat "Ho's" in the background? "Higbee's"?


4. Pete Rock and CL Smooth for Sprite

You are not allowed to belittle "commercial rap" when you are right in the middle of literally making a commercial rap.


3. Common for Gap

There is nothing specifically wrong with this, except that the whole thing just makes us want to vomit.


2. MC Hammer for Taco Bell

These days, burgers are not only "out the door", but also out of Hammer's budget.


1. Pretty much everything from McDonald's

Like Sprite, McDonald's has made heavy use of hip-hop music in their advertising for years. Unlike Sprite, however, we always feel insulted, and maybe a little violated, after McDonald's ads. 


SILLIEST:

Voltron series with Common, Mack 10, Goodie Mob, Fat Joe, and Afrika Bambataa for Sprite

KRS-One and Lupe Fiasco Puppets for Nike

Ed McMahon and MC Hammer for Cash4Gold

BIGGEST SELLOUT:

Common

Remember when Common had principles and was broke? Vaguely, right? Now, it seems like he will do just about anything for money. Pop music? “Sure.” Awful movies? “No doubt!” Commercials? “Hell yeah. No, I don’t need to know what it’s for. Show me where to sign.” He went from being a vegan, urging others to go vegetarian to selling toxic horse piss, from being a conscious, non-materialistic rapper to slanging shitty cologne and luxery SUVs, and from rocking scarves and ugly clothes to selling… well, scarves and ugly clothes (ok, that one makes sense).  It's ok though, because he makes it clear that he refuses to sellout in the middle of his Coca-Cola commercial.