Rapper Drink Series : Hennessy

My first experience with the "Brown beast" as I call it, I can remember was me, and my homeboy in 1996 going to the liquor store to buy a pint of Hennessy to go to the Mall of America to see if we could catch up with Usher, The Lox etc. from the Bad Boy "No way out tour." I was younger so I couldn't purchase a bottle nor did I have the funds to do so we shared. Taking that first sip I could feel it going down and warming me up as it did. It was a strong cognac, and I was "buzzed" within a few drinks. I was initially introduced by the music I was listening to at the time lot of East coast / West Coast Hip Hop, Mobb Deep, Nas, and 2pac. Stories upon stories boasting on their conquests of street life while celebrating with the "brown beast" as the drink of choice. Hennessy or cognac is mentioned in over 1,000 songs I was always wondered about this drink while reciting my favorite rappers lyrics. " Lord forgive me the Hennesey got me not knowin' how to act' I'm fallin' and I can't turn back. "Niggaz get tossed up, war scars, battlefield memories, Swore I saw the devil in my empty glass of Hennesey Talkin to a nigga on a tight leash." Even AZ, and Nas was talking about drinking that brown with no chaser, while it's been common knowledge that Kanye West was guzzling Hennessy before the infamous Taylor Swift incident. While other rapper named dropped, 2pac dedicated a entire song to the celebrated liquor as he states " You want to know what is my role model it's in a brown bottle." But this wasn't the first time Hennessy was in the public eye, Hennessy placed advertisements in black publications a decision that was rare given the times. “Hennessy was one of the first brands to feature an ad in the famous Ebony and Jet magazines with black models in the 1950s,” no wonder so many black people male, and female levitate to this brown drink. To celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2015, Hennessy named legendary hip-hop artist Nas as brand ambassador. It's something about this brand that keeps people talking and drinking. #RIProdigy #RIP2Pac