I’ve worked on a decent amount of collabs during my career in advertising. Like this one with Taco Bell and Topps, from back when I was a creative director at Octagon. We helped amplify Taco Bell’s “Steal A Base, Steal A Taco” campaign with an exclusive Topps NOW set commemorating all the moments over the years when players stole the first base of the World Series to unlock free tacos for America.

I gotta say though, this recent collab I just worked on might be my favorite ever. And it’s definitely the most personal. Let’s start at the beginning.

Five years ago, my friend of almost thirty years Max Bent and I released a beatbox/MC single titled “Pumpkin Cheesecake.”

And to our utmost delight, hip-hop legend DJ Premier took a liking to it and played it a few times on his Sirius XM/Shade 45 radio show. Other legends like DJ Riz and DJ Eclipse played it on their Shade 45 show too, and Peter Rosenberg and Funkmaster Flex played it during their special Hot 97 Thanksgiving Eve set as well. As two guys who’d been making music and performing together since our college years at the University of Maryland in the late ‘90s, this level of radio spins was surreal.

Check out this clip of DJ Premier scratching up “Pumpkin Cheesecake” live on-air.

As Max and I started performing together again the past couple years, we noticed “Pumpkin Cheesecake” had become a bit of a fan favorite. And like many artists who save their most beloved songs for the end of their live sets, we’d do the same with “Pumpkin Cheesecake.” After all, that’s when you’re supposed to serve dessert anyway—at the end of the meal.

So to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the song, I wanted to bring to life an idea I had a few years back that I never put into play. And that was doing some sort of “Pumpkin Cheesecake” collaboration to offer an exclusive pressing of the song with an actual Stan Ipcus-branded pumpkin cheesecake dessert.

Earlier in the year, I started by pursuing a local farm who served pumpkin cheesecakes at their fall festival and stocked frozen ones in their market. We had some great back-and-forth about the idea, but in the end, they were focused on some other new initiatives for the season and passed.

Then, I reached out via cold email to a cheesecake shop across the Hudson River known for their unique menu items. They actually replied back quickly and showed genuine interest, but then went dark on me when it was time to actually set up a time to discuss. Oh well.

Still determined to make it happen, I kept brainstorming different ways I could execute a “Pumpkin Cheesecake” collab. Then, one night a couple months ago, a light bulb went off in my head—Batch!

Batch Cookies ‘N Cream is a local, family-run cookies and ice cream shop where I live in Bedford Hills, and the owners are our neighbors and good friends. When I returned to performing hip-hop shows back in late 2024, AJ from the 914 Collective, who was promoting the event, interviewed me for a social media promo post at Batch. They were a new business in town, so it felt like the right play.

Batch was already known for their creative offerings, from their beloved S’Mores cookies to their make-your-own UFO cookie sandwiches. And after a couple whiffs with shops who I had no personal relationships with, it made sense to pursue a partnership with folks I was already friends with. I wanted the collab to have a local connection, and an element of fun, too. And what’s more fun than doing stuff with your friends, right? Sometimes the best ideas are right under your nose—it just takes a second to realize it.

So I pitched the idea to the owners of making a Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookie in celebration of the “Pumpkin Cheesecake” fifth anniversary, with a thought to drop the cookies in line with a show in Mount Kisco Max and I had coming up in October. And thankfully, with zero hesitation, they were in. And we were off and running. Wow!

Batch handled the cookies. “Don’t worry about the cookies,” my buddy Anthony told me, my mouth watering as he described the soft yet crisp pumpkin cookie with creamy cheesecake frosting. So I got to work on the exclusive pressing of the song.

I wanted to press up a “Pumpkin Cheesecake” single featuring our new 2026 beatbox/MC song “Let’s Walk” on the B-side. It’s funny—when I first revisited this collab idea earlier in the year, our recording of “Let’s Walk” didn’t even exist yet. So when we made it over the summer, I told Max, “This has to be the B-side to ‘Pumpkin Cheesecake’ if we ever get this collab done.”

Then, after exploring the possibilities of a cassette single and 12-inch vinyl—both of which were costly with wack timelines—I found a company that would press up 50 CD singles at a super-cheap price, and with a quick turnaround. Perfect.

For the artwork, I turned the original cover of the single, which featured a photo of Max and me performing live at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, into a backyard, harvest-themed version with colorful leaves, outdoor string lights, and a table full of pumpkin cheesecake desserts and cookies.

In addition, I created IP x BATCH stickers with our logos on them to promote the collaboration. They could be used to stick on the Batch packaging, and to give out to the kiddos, too.

As Max and I’s show approached, I caught up with Anthony around lunchtime during one of our crossover work-from-home days for a quick walk in the neighborhood to plot out the execution. And he was all in on the idea to unveil the cookies for the first time at the show on stage with a ceremonial first bite, and then drop them the next day at Batch—with the first 25 customers receiving a free CD with their purchase.

And that’s what we did. We sold out our second straight show at Jazz On Main in Mount Kisco (LFG!), and at the end of our set, Max cued up the “Pumpkin Cheesecake” beatbox on his loop machine as we announced the Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookie collab with Batch. We shouted out the owners in the audience, then brought three folks from the crowd up on stage to try out the cookies for the first time—including our boy Joey to celebrate his birthday. It was fun, it was hilarious, and everyone loved the cookies.

Here are a pair of video clips—first, the unveiling of the IP x BATCH Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookie, and second, the show-closing live “Pumpkin Cheesecake” performance.

From there, the collaboration went live at Batch Cookies ‘N Cream in Bedford Hills! For the two weeks following the show, folks stopped by Batch to grab their Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies, and the first 25 customers got a free Stan Ipcus & Max Bent “Pumpkin Cheesecake” limited-edition CD single with their purchase.

And with that, my “Pumpkin Cheesecake” marketing dream came true.