This is one of my favorite hip hop records.
It’s Ghostface Killah’s Ironman released in 1996.
Listen to “Fish”, the 9th track on the record
My triple sevens broke the slot machines out in Queens
Grey Poupon is revlon rap, smack pawns, swing like batons
Yes, this archetypal Ghostface verse is cryptic, stream-of-consciousness, and in your face.
But...it also gave me a sense of de ja vu.
That’s because 4 tracks before you’ll hear this verse from Raekwon
First of all before we move on, this shit is like a Yukon, don
Spread it out like Grey Poupon
Wu-Tang must just love Grey Poupon, It makes sense -- they rap about food a lot.
But as I was working on a video about Kanye West, I heard him too rap this on his 2016
song “Facts”
Yeezy yeezy this is pure luxury I give em Grey Poupon on a DJ Mustard
That’s fully 20 years later.
I listen to hip hop all day long so I started logging anytime I heard Grey Poupon referenced
in rap lyrics.
It turns out Grey Poupon is everywhere.
Why is this little jar of fancy mustard so ubiquitous in rap music?
Well it starts here.
The finer things in life.
Happily some are affordable.
Like Grey Poupon Dijon mustard.
These ads started in 1981 and immediately they were a hit.
When the first ad was tested in Seattle, the brand reportedly saw a 100% jump in sales.
They tested it again in in New England and the same jump in sales happened, proving it
wasn’t a fluke.
Previously, the brand had only ever used print advertising, to appeal to an upper class audience.
But mustard was the condiment of the 80s, and Grey Poupon wanted a piece of the pie
even at a higher price point.
A jar of Grey Poupon was nearly double the price of French’s or Guldens.
So in 1981 this ad aired, telling consumers across the US that Grey Poupon was gourmet
AND affordable while the phrase Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?
Inserted itself into the American lexicon.
Over the next 10 years the campaign emphasized the mustard’s affordability
while traveling on trains, planes, and yachts.
This brings us to the early 90s when Nabisco wanted to change up the campaign.
Usually you like the opp to create something new.
But it’s pretty memorable why change it?
We should just figure out how to make it more approachable.
That’s Lee Garfinkle.
He worked for the agency that made the ads.
We came back with the idea of the guys poking fun of each other.
Is this about the mustard again?
Yes.
Would you have some?
Oh since you're offering yes I would.
They added a squeeze bottle to emphasize that Grey Poupon was a fancy mustard you could
use every single day.
Sales took off again.
That same year Das EFX, the influential east coast hip hop duo, began recording their debut
album Dead Serious.
Das EFX are the ones who crammed multiple syllables in a bar by adding “igity” at
the end of words.
Wiggity-wait a minute, giggity-guess who, well it's, umm, me
The bumble B boogity woogity book the loopy Double O-K-iggity S
When Dead Serious was released in 1992 it went platinum and the single “They Want
EFX” quickly reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Charts.
But it’s the song “East Coast” that marked what is probably the first recorded
Grey Poupon reference in Hip Hop history.
He's the Don, have you seen my grey poupon?
Bust this, we roll more spliffs than Cheech and Chong
Within that same month Wayne’s World premiered.
Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?
By the spring of 1992 this glass jar of bougie white wine mustard spread itself across the
pop culture landscape and started one of the weirdest trends in hip hop.
[Boots as waiter] Fuck naw I ain't got no Grey Poupon
[Rich female guest] Well anyway, I said, 'That's no burglar!
That's my butler.'
Mr. Rockefeller, let me in on the gossip I heard you and Mr. Getty are getting into
rap music or something]
This chart shows the rise of Grey Poupon in recorded music from 1992 to 2016 and it reveals
something interesting about how words are used in hip hop culture.
This particular brand of Dijon mustard has been like referenced a lot in rap music.
I've used it a bunch.
It comes up in freestyles all the time.
That’s rapper Mike Eagle.
I think in this particular case there's a couple of reasons for it.
In one aspect I think it’s how convenient of a rhyme it is.
You have a word like poupon and it rhymes with words like futon, neutron, and cupon.
26, and I done lived a lifetime a few times.
From futons to Grey Poupons In church tryna get a little savings; yeah,
a coupon.
I spit that A1 everyday I'm hitting new primes.
Out of the 118 songs mentioning the mustard, the most common rhyming word is coupon with
20.
Followed by futon and crouton.
I got the Grey Poupon, you been warned / Cause all beef return well done filet mignon / The
Don, smell of Dom on my breath as I Yawn, (slow)
Not only is Grey Poupon a good rhyming word.
It also represents something.
Hip Hop has always had this obsession with status symbols.
If you have money you have grey poupon you don’t have french’s mustard.
I think it’s just a very effective commercial in that way.
Most of the songs mentioning Grey Poupon over the last 24 years have used it as a symbol
of class.
Half of them were used to brag and half were used as a juxtaposition to how poor they were.
But I want to be in that limo askin' for the Grey Poupon, for a change / I'm sick of saving
change from a coupon
Others have used the Dijon mustard to signifying how exquisite their rapping skills are.
Yeah, you're like a half-off coupon Me, I'm like a fresh jar of Grey Poupon
Give me the mic quick, I need something to poop on
And the rest, well Grey Poupon sells sex.
Get you in the mood throw them slow grooves on / Spread you on a futon like Grey Poupon
Have you been able to find a 2007 event that made it spike?
I think I did, Mike.
By 2007 the commercials hadn’t been on the air for a full decade.
So why was it that from 2007 on there's just a huge jump in the number of references?
Well, the majority of Grey Poupon songs in 2006-2007 were on albums that debuted at #1,
had hit singles, and got a lot of radio airplay.
For instance Jim Jones’ says Grey Poupon in his hit song “We Fly High.”
Talk a buck 80 If the bentley is the topic (That grey poupon)
But of course gotta fly ...? (Where?)
The track took off in late 2006 when the New York Giants’ Michael Strahan started celebrating
sacks to the song with a Jump Shot, a reference to the song.
By 2007 kids in dance clubs across the country were jumpshotting everytime “Ballin” was
sung.
It was the 28th most popular song by the year’s end.
“2 Step” by Unk had an accompanying dance called the “2 Step” and it features a
Jim Jones verse that references Grey Poupon again.
I get bread like croutons (dough), I make dough like crouissants (bread)
I'm Grey Poupon (yep), Bentley shit baby (baby)
The same year produced “Show it to me” by T.I.
with a Nelly verse.
That album debuted at #1.
Country niggas in the chevy passin' Grey Poupon
and “Boom” off of what is probably Lil Wayne’s greatest mixtape, Da Drought 3.
I got more clips then any movie you've saw / I pull up on ya like I need some Grey Poupon
Did I mention “Southside” the Kanye West Common collab?
Look at that neutron on his green like croutons People asking him, "do you have any grey poupon"
It was nominated for a Grammy for best rap album that year.
From 2007 to 2016 TK% of the grey poupon songs ranked on the billboard charts or were on
albums that did.
The commercial itself probably had little to do with the recent rise of Grey Poupon
in lyrics.
It seems that the more Grey Poupon was in people’s ears, the more it was rapped by
other artists in subsequent years.
Nothing proves this more than the song Straatmeermin by the Dutch rap group, De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig.
It’s entirely in Dutch except for this line.
Money uit de let's get it on Geen pindakaas maar alleen Grey Poupon
En dan nodigde ze me uit in haar con
I reached out to Kraft Heinz, who now owns the Grey Poupon brand to see if the Dijon
mustard is even sold in the Netherlands.
I got this.
No Estelle.
It's not.
Did you ever notice that a lot of rappers use the word?
Being the kinda rapper I am I've always paid attention to words.
When I looked at your list I was just dumbfounded that it was used that many times.
Looking at that list it almost has to be subconscious.
I think if anybody was aware that it was used that many times they wouldn't still use it.
Nothing is quite as ubiquitous as that.