Ludacris Spins a Fresh Track for Google's Black-Owned Friday

Hip-hop icon Ludacris leaves no room for doubt about his purchase plans this holiday season.

“I’ma buy all Black! I’ma buy all Black!” he raps in a fresh track recorded with Flo Milli and PJ to support Black-Owned Friday—the initiative from Google and the U.S. Black Chambers that plays off the traditional post-Thanksgiving Black Friday phenomenon to boost African American businesses nationwide.

Wyclef Jean fronted the campaign’s first iteration in 2020, while T-Pain and Normani teamed up for last year’s Clio-winning effort. All three efforts were made in collaboration with the agency BBH.

Now, Luda and Flo headline a zippy clip that cranks up the beats to hype 100+ products from 70 Black-owned establishments:

The shoppable version of “Buying All Black” lives here.

“Throughout my career, I’ve been able to pursue many of my passions, but some of the work I’m most proud of are my business ventures,” Ludacris says in a blog post. “I’ve always understood the importance of Black-owned businesses and the impact they make on their communities, and I’m proud to support them.”

He continues: “Every day when you’re searching, whether it’s for a local business or if you’re shopping online, you can choose to search and buy from Black-owned businesses. The number of Black owned businesses is around 30 percent above pre-pandemic levels, which allows for even more chances to find your new favorite restaurant, bookstore or jacket.”

In fun yet pointed rhymes, Luda spells out the mission:

Righteous stuff from the rap-promo dynamo, who’s created brand winners in recent years for Jif peanut butter and Harry’s body wash.

All three “Black-Owned Friday” campaigns have been standouts, providing tuneful twists on a broader industry initiative to aid small businesses. Music often plays a role, as in Google’s “Heroes of Small Business” animated films soundtracked by Tobe Nwigwe, and Meta’s push for its personalized ads with a dance track from Peaches. Other notable examples, without a specific music tie-in, include work from AT&T, Square, MassMutual/New York Times and Mailchimp.

CREDITS

Brand: Google 
Global Consumer Marketing Director, Commerce: Claire Mudd 
Global Head of Brand Marketing, Shopping: Nicolas Underhill 
Brand Marketing Lead, Shopping: Wendy Gonzalez 
Director: Charles Todd 

Production Company: Scheme Engine 
Executive Producer: Janet McInnes 
Producer: Chris Lettley 
Director of Photography: Jon Chema 

Agency: BBH 
ECD: Estefanio Holtz, Kasia Canning 
Executive Producers: Sam Petersson, Michael Petrucelly 
Senior Producer: Chris Totzke, Shelley Giera 
Producer: Yamoaa Gyimah 
Senior AD; Jack Hwang 
CD: Yohan Daver, Sapna Ahluwalia 
Senior Copywriter: Jesse Custodio 
Color: Studio Primary 
Colorist: Kya Lou 
Color Assists: David Oh, Phillip Dystant Jr. 
Executive Producer: Lauren Baker 
Head of Production: Diane Valera 
Associate Producer: Alex Zhao 

Editorial Company: Cut+Run 
Editor: Beau Dickson 
Senior Cutting Assistant: James Donahue 
Assistant Editor: Kima Hibbert 
Senior Producer: Diana Méndez 

Sound Company: Heard City 

Design, Animation, & VFX: Carbon 
Creative Director, Carbon: Mat Stevens 
VFX Supervisor: John Price 
VFX Shoot Supervisor: Tommy Smith 
Executive Producer: Matt McManus 
Producer: Vanessa Yee 
Associate Producer: Chrissy Bruzek 
2D Lead: Artist John Price 
CG Lead: Jessie Amadio 
2D Artists: Pete Mayor, Hannah Barnes, Ilia Mokhtareizadeh, Mark Anderson,Marc Wellington, Chris DeCristo, Blake Druery, Tobey Lindback, Andrew Siner, Austin Brown, Josh Guillaume, Michael Glen, Navid Bagherzadeh 
CG: Artist Will Moody 
Designers: Justin Leung, Tyler Heacox, Momo Zhao,Katrina Zimmerman, Yong Ho Kim, Shanee Benjamin, Will Salas, Hawken King, Shervin Etaat 
FX: Ryan Hussain 
Storyboard Artist: Julian Bishop 
Matte Painter: Carlos Nieto