James Lindsay is the Founder and CEO of Rap Snacks, a snack foods company that features hip-hop artists on its products. The brand has partnered with some of the most recognizable names in the rap game, including Cardi B, Migos, Lil Boosie, Rick Ross, Master P, and Romeo, making it one of the most visible hip-hop geared snack products over the last few decades.
James has also expanded his business to include beverages, collaborating with Lil’ Baby to launch Oowee Lemonade, a five-flavored lemonade line. He has appeared on various media outlets, such as CBS Morning Show, ABC’s The Jimmy Kimmel Show, BET, Fox News, People Magazine, The Tavis Smiley Show, Black Enterprise, Forbes, and Entrepreneur Magazine.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [02:03] James Lindsay introduces Rap Snacks
- [02:57] Rap Snacks’ products and flavors
- [03:30] Forming partnerships with top music artists
- [04:59] James shares the challenges he faced growing Rap Snacks
- [05:31] The Rap Snacks Foundation BossUp
In this episode…
Launching and growing a snack brand is no easy feat. It takes more than just having a quality product with great flavors. So, how can you be strategic and innovative to thrive in this competitive industry?
Imagine your snack brand associating with the biggest names in the music industry, like Cardi B, Migos, Lil Boosie, Rick Ross, Drake, and others. James Lindsay says one key tactic for thriving in the snacks industry is collaborating with some of the most recognizable artists in the music game. Not only does partnering with them help elevate your brand’s image, but it also opens up doors to new audiences, and you gain valuable exposure and recognition in the market. He shares how he creates limited edition flavors, rap-focused packaging, and music videos with renowned artists in the rap game to showcase his brand uniquely and engagingly.
In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, host Dr. Jeremy Weisz interviews James Lindsay, Founder and CEO of Rap Snacks, to discuss his entrepreneurial journey in the snacks industry. James talks about Rap Snacks and its products and flavors, forming partnerships with well-known artists, and the challenges he faced growing his company.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
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Episode Transcript
Intro 0:01
You are listening to Inspired Insider with your host, Dr. Jeremy Weisz.
Jeremy Weisz 0:22
Dr. Jeremy Weisz here I am the founder and host of inspiredinsider.com where I talk with inspirational entrepreneurs and leaders, today’s no different and this is a special episode. I am actually interviewing founders and CEOs live at the Sweets and Snacks Show. And so check it out. We have some amazing companies featured check this episode out and before I get to that this episode is brought to you by Rise25. At Rise25, we help businesses give to and connect to their dream 100 relationships. How do we do that? We help you run your podcast we are an easy button for an organization or business to launch and run your podcast I’ve been podcasting for over a decade now. For me, the number one thing in my life is relationships. I’m always looking at ways to give to my best relationships. And I found no better way to do that than to profile the people in the companies I most admire, feature them on my podcast and shout from the rooftops so what they’re working on and what they’re doing. So if you’ve thought about starting a podcast you should, if you have questions, you can go to rise25.com or email [email protected] to learn more. Now check out today’s episode, live from the Sweets and Snacks Show. Jeremy Weisz here, we’re live at the Sweets and Snacks Show. We’re here with James. He is the founder of Rap Snacks. And James tell people about the company and what you do.
James Lindsay 2:03
Well, first and foremost, I am the founder and CEO of Rap Snacks. Rap Snacks has been around for 28 years. It’s been trials and tribulations. We started about 28 years ago in Philadelphia, selling our Rap Snacks through the mom-and-pop stores. We had an artist that we created it’s called MC Potato in the bags before we ever had audits on our bags. And the product organically just grew. We had a lot of trials and tribulations because we had to find someone to really help us grow with production, distributing, and I really learned everything on the fly. So 28 years later, here we are a very big success.
Jeremy Weisz 2:49
Talk about some of the fan-favorite products. I’m gonna grab some right here. But you have, who do we have here?
James Lindsay 2:57
Okay, this is called the Migos and a dab I don’t know if you guys remember the song and dab? Dab. Dab, Dab, right. And these are the guys who really put Rap Snacks on the map. They did a song called a jingle called get yourself a bag of Rap Snacks. That was a viral moment for Rap Snacks. And ever since then we’ve been the viral sensations of the internet.
Jeremy Weisz 3:25
Who are some of the other artists that you partner with? I saw Snoop Dogg has a flavor profile.
James Lindsay 3:30
Yes, Snoop Dogg. Lil Baby, Rick Ross. We just signed Kodak Black, Nicki Minaj. I mean, all your fan favorites.
Jeremy Weisz 3:41
Talk about forming partnerships with some of these big artists.
James Lindsay 3:44
Yeah, forming partnerships with these guys, it becomes easier and easier because they realize not only that it’s a monetary gain for them. But it’s an impression every day that people see their face on our bags. So if someone comes and see their face, not bags, they may think about the music. Or they think about the music what can they do, they stream the music. So it’s a win-win for both companies.
Jeremy Weisz 4:09
Who should be working with you that isn’t yet.
James Lindsay 4:12
Oh man, Drake. Yeah, we’re working on that man. Definitely.
Jeremy Weisz 4:17
What is your favorite?
James Lindsay 4:20
That question is, my favorite is the barbecue in my honey. And the DAB and rants because that was the first two items that I created when we started the company. And after that we have all these different flavors, but they’re dear to my heart because they’re the ones that really was a flagship of our company initially.
Jeremy Weisz 4:38
Where can people find it?
James Lindsay 4:39
You can fly in and Rap Snacks at your local mom-and-pop stores, Walmart, Target any big box store into the country.
Jeremy Weisz 4:50
I love to hear, we see it now 28 years later across all these stores. What were some of the challenges?
James Lindsay 4:59
Oh, some of the challenges, there was many, but some of the challenges was distribution. First and foremost, it was still growing through distribution, because when you are growing and you’re from a certain demographic area, you don’t really know what other distributors are. So I had to go from city to city state to state and find those guys that are now currently distributing our products.
Jeremy Weisz 5:26
Congrats on your success, I want to talk about BossUp, tell people about what BossUp is.
James Lindsay 5:31
BossUp is really a giveback. We feel like the community has given a lot to us. So BossUp is, we have all kinds of programs, helping inner city kids really achieve some of the goals that we have, just learning them how to start a business, how to do marketing, how to do internet marketing, and really given them opportunities to get information. And information is key to starting a business and really being successful in life.
Jeremy Weisz 5:58
So where should we point people towards, where can people learn more about BossUp?
James Lindsay 6:02
Well rapsnacks.net. You go into rapsnacks.net, you’ll be able to head about all our BossUp Programs, Wise Intelligent from Poor Righteous Teachers, is the gentleman who really has that program for us.
Jeremy Weisz 6:16
James, amazing, congrats on your journey. Everyone, check out Rap Snacks. Thanks, everyone.
James Lindsay 6:22
All right. Thank you.
