Wu-Tang and unproblematic ice cream are for the children: Upon hearing that old-timey song "Turkey in the Straw" has a racist history, hip-hop legend and Wu-Tang member RZA just wrote a new jingle to bring ice cream trucks into the 21st century.
You don't hear the words to "Turkey in the Straw" when trucks circle the block peddling Sponge Bob-shaped ice cream pops and frozen lemonade, but the centuries-old tune was used in minstrel shows and a few renditions featured extremely racist lyrical additions we won't run here.
Thanks to RZA and ice cream company Good Humor (they of strawberry shortcake bar fame), those dulcet tones you hear circling your neighborhood could now involve less "Turkey in the Straw" and way more bass.
"Good Humor, they called me up and was like, 'We gotta do something about this, Riz,'" RZA says in a video posted to his Instagram. "We can change the dynamics. We can make a new ice cream jingle for a new era. We wanted to make a melody that includes all communities, that's good for every driver, every kid. And I'm proud to say: For the first time in a long time, a new ice cream truck jingle will be made available to trucks all across the country, in perpetuity."
Good Humor is releasing RZA's new jingle for free, and it's also providing educational how-tos for drivers looking to download the song and add the file to their truck's own music box.
"And I can assure you," RZA adds, "this one is made with love."
You can hear RZA's upgrade here:
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