Tupac Shakur, J. Cole and Missy Elliott Lyrics Will Cover New Sprite Cans

Sprite's Obey Your Verse collection is back with three new artists. Today (June 15), Sprite announces it will feature lyrics from Tupac, J. Cole and Missy Elliott on its limited-edition cans, which launch in late June.

In an interview with Billboard, director of Coca-Cola North America, Bobby Oliver, explains why Sprite chose Pac, Cole and Missy. "We wanted to make sure we identified artists who represented our point of view of staying true to yourself, artists who stay true to who they are and what they want to represent," he says. "And we wanted a nice balance of artists that have longevity in hip hop and some with more recent appeal."

According to Billboard, the cans will include lyrics from Tupac's "Keep Ya Head Up," "When We Ride" and "Wake Me When I'm Free." Meanwhile, the campaign will feature Elliott's "WTF (Where They From)" and "Hot Boyz" and J. Cole's "Grown Simba" and "Love Yourz." The lyrics will cover 12 and 16-ounce cans, 20-ounce bottles, and 12, 20 and 24-packs of 12-ounce cans.

Last year's campaign featured lyrics from Drake, Rakim, Nas and Biggie.

Oliver tells Billboard, "The big takeaway for us coming out of last year was how excited fans were about us staying true to the genre and paying homage to the heritage of hip hop. Choosing classic artists as well as current artists led to our credibility."

The director of Coca-Cola North America says it was especially important to include Tupac in the campaign. "It's important for us to have an artist like that because of what he's represented to music and the art form. Having a heavyweight like him is important to the program," Oliver says.

Keep it locked to XXL for more news regarding Sprite's Obey Your Verse campaign.