A few nights ago I was up late and reading about Raekwon’s upcoming Only Built For Cuban Linx 2, which lead me to start listening to the first one. While listening, I decided to read up on it over on Wikipedia. I read something that mentioned a sample from a St. Ides commercial being used at the beginning of “Spot Rusherz”. I couldn’t remember a Wu Tang commercial for St Ides, so of course I headed over to YouTube to check for myself…and just like that, my memory was refreshed. It was was Method Man, Rae, and GFK. Check out the audio player for the extra verses from U-God and Rza.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

It was from that point that I decided to take a trip down memory lane and watch some of the St. Ides ads that I’d watched as an adolescent, and even check out a few that I may have missed. For example, I never knew that Rakim did any spots for the malt beverage, but in fact he did two.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I don’t think anyone did as many drops for St. Ides than Ice Cube. King Tee was his closest competition, but with at least ten spots (which includes collaborations with EPMD, The Geto Boys, and Yo-Yo), Cube slightly edges him out for the honor (or maybe dishonor) of having the most St. Ides ads.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Many of the ads were fairly fast paced, but eventually St. Ides fell into the land of G-Funk and the result was as smooth as the taste it promised the consumer. The greatest examples of this were the spots that featured then-newcomer Nate Dogg crooning over the laid back tracks.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

For me, the two most memorable St. Ides ads were the one with the Notorious B.I.G and the one with Snoop (Doggy, at the time) Dogg and 2Pac. I always enjoyed the beat on B.I.G.’s commercial and went nuts when Tha Dogg Pound used it on their “New York, New York” song. From what I’ve read, DJ Pooh did a lot of the production for the St. Ides commercials, which included Biggie’s song. Subsequently, that lead to the double usage of the beat. Me and my friends used to walk to the corner store doing our remixed rendition of the Snoop and Pac as we journeyed to get bottles of the Crooked I juice.

During this quick stroll down memory avenue, one thing became painstakingly obvious to me…the bulk of these 30 to 60 second ads are better than a great deal of “music” coming out nowadays. I understand the qualms that some may have about these Black artists promoting malt liquor and all, but they overlook the slivers of positive messages such as speaking out against underage drinking and shunning drunk driving. I don’t know if it’s just the sudden feeling of nostalgia or just what, but a lot of these newfangled artists out here may want to grab a forty O-Z and take note or something.