Acura Uses Hip-Hop Artist To Promote New Integra

The 2023 Acura Integra is one of the most controversial cars to be launched in recent years. With an available six-speed manual transmission and promises of spirited performance, many are excited about the arrival of a compact and athletic sports sedan. On the other side of the coin, purists are displeased with Acura for not capturing the essence of the much-loved Type R.

Whatever your stance may be, it's set to be a massive success for the company. Neat styling and an appealing price tag will attract many to the Integra but Acura is leaving nothing to chance. The automaker's new marketing campaign is hoping to garner the attention of America's youthful creatives, with a new marketing campaign aimed squarely at the cool kids.

Hip-hop artist Vince Staples has teamed up with Acura to create the "Your Turn" campaign, which sees Staples exploring the Integra across three separate TV commercials. Each spot is set to tracks from the artist's new album, Ramona Park Broke My Heart.

This unique collaboration coincides with the first customer deliveries; production of the compact sports sedan commenced earlier in May. The aim of the artistic strategy is to inspire drivers to get on the road and "make the next-gen Integra their own."

As a car lover and an Acura fan, Staples remarked that this is the ideal partnership. "We really wanted to celebrate the relationship between our cars and our identities but in a way the everyday consumer could relate to. Acura has strong roots in the South Bay and growing up I remember going to see the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach...this launch felt really authentic and was a fun creative experience for me."

This isn't the only left-field approach Acura has taken in recent months. In March, the premium brand announced the first 500 Integra customers will receive a limited edition NFT designed by 3D artist Andreas Wannerstedt. At first, the NFT appears to be fairly basic but, upon delivery, it's upgraded to become a unique art piece.

Aside from that, Acura also said it would create the world's first digital showroom, known fittingly as Acura of Decentraland. The Integra is a hugely important car for the brand. Not only did the original cement the company's reputation here in the United States, but it will also lend the brand a youthfulness that has gone missing in recent years.

As a reminder, the Integra's 1.5-liter spits out 200 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque but if that isn't enough, a Type S model is on the way. Curiously, Acura has elected to offer the newcomer with a standard CVT. That seems to have been a mistake; 70% of reservations are for the manual.