Hip-hop titans and corporations have long flocked to each other for increased mutual brand recognition. Cristal painfully learned that you don’t piss off a major demographic, but for every cautionary tale, there are many more partnerships that actually work. Last night, URB checked out the launch of Qream, the latest partnership between liquor giant Diageo and Pharrell Williams, at the New York Public Library Cynics that we are, we were expecting a bottle stamped with the imprimatur of Williams; the type of deal where name means more than brain and the rapper can quickly snag the easiest check of the year. What we got was an impassioned speech by Williams, who is either the most invested producer in liquor or the greatest BS artist ever.
Qream, said Williams, was designed primarily for women who “haven’t forgotten about indulging themselves.” He would go on to discuss the reaction of alcohol on endorphins and the importance of creating a low-calorie drink; so confident in his approach, we thought for a second he was in the lab with the drink chemists working out complex formulas.
Despite being a “drink for women,” several male bloggers and journalists were spotted sipping on the drinks, a lighter, fruitier version of creamy Baileys-esque liqueurs. With Jay-Z, Selita Ebanks and Swizz Beatz in attendance, the incongruous surroundings – are people really boozing in a library? – made the night that much more surreal.
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