This week I found a bag of RAP SNACKS featuring Bell Biv DeVoe on the cover. The chip flavor? “Back at the Ranch”!

Rap Snacks, like Chumpies before it, was started in Philadelphia. Created by James Lindsay in 1994 according to Wikipedia, the company is currently headquartered out of Greensboro, North Carolina. In 2007, Lil Romeo bought the company for an undisclosed sum.

Philadelphia still represents heavily on the company’s website, with the Philly skyline draped in plain view and pictures of Allen Iverson sprinkled throughout.

Here’s a scan of the back of the packaging, with a little description about BBD and record stores in Philly, Baltimore, DC and Los Angeles where to pick the album up.

Be sure to check out this dope photo gallery of the various Rap Snacks covers. And here’s a great article with Lindsay discussing the company’s genesis, and how Poor Righteous Teachers fits into the equation!

Chumpies is a brand of potato chips started in Philadelphia in 1991. They were still around when I left Philadelphia and you could pick them up in bodegas and the like. They were fairly common and I took them for granted as a Philly thang (in other words, I assumed they were available nationwide which is not quite the case).

Chumpies, aside from having the flyest graphics on a bag of chips ever (not to mention the dopest name ever), were also positively-inspired: each bag has anti-drug messages, as well as no pork byproducts (non-cipher, kid). You should definitely check for them in your local markets.

UPDATE: I scanned the back of the bag in too, but the shiny packaging didn’t take well to the scanner, making it rather unreadable. But I wanted to transcribe the literature on the back of the product as well. It’s represented below:

Home Boys (H-Boys)

This product is an acknowledgement of our American urban experience, and culture. This experience can be found in the term “Home Boys”.

Many youth today are unaware that this term has been used in our community for over 25 years. And many of our “Home Boys” have gone on to become the pride of their neighborhood.

A lot of the time we weren’t the best kids on the block, but many of us went on to become Doctors, Lawyers, Judges, Ministers, and even Police. We salute the “Home Boys” of the past and dedicate ourselves to taking back the corner of today, from the dealers of drugs. We have to make the corners drug free again.

Also, be sure to check out my latest article about Rap Sancks, another Philly-born potato chip brand.