Church's Texas Chicken just dropped an original song and music video called Chickahhhn, pairing Memphis rap legend Project Pat with rising artist Lil' Lucky in a campaign steeped in Southern hip-hop nostalgia. The video premiered on Church's YouTube channel beginning Tuesday, and it reworks a song that's been bouncing around car stereos for a quarter century.
From a 2001 Classic to a Chicken Jingle
The track reimagines Project Pat's 2001 hit Chickenhead with a Church's-inspired twist, according to QSR Web. The collaboration didn't start in a boardroom. It began after Lil' Lucky posted his own version of Chickenhead, swapping in Church's-themed lyrics, and that post caught the attention of Project Pat and the chain's creative agency, Brunner, which led to an official collaboration, per the same outlet.
As CultureMap San Antonio reports, Lil' Lucky was invited to turn his viral moment into a full-fledged track alongside the dirty south rap legend himself. The resulting song promotes Church's, building on a track that's been a Southern rap staple since the early 2000s.
Classic Cars and Throwback Visuals
The video leans hard into nostalgia, using classic cars, throwback visuals and even Church's vintage logo to transport viewers back in time, according to a GlobeNewswire release from Church's. The timing isn't incidental, either — the chain is celebrating its 74th anniversary in 2026, and the throwback aesthetic doubles as a nod to its own history.
That history runs through San Antonio. Church's was founded in the city in 1952 by George W. Church Sr., and the first location, called Church's Fried Chicken To Go, opened across the street from the Alamo selling only fried chicken, according to the Texas State Historical Association. In 1968, the company was operating 17 stores in five Texas cities.
A San Antonio Chain's Long Road to Atlanta
Church's headquarters moved to Atlanta in 1992 after parent company America's Favorite Chicken relocated operations there, and Rego Restaurant Group acquired the company in 2021, according to the San Antonio Report. The outlet reports the chain has grown to 1,700 locations across 26 countries, including 380 in Texas, while Church's own GlobeNewswire release describes the brand and its sister chain Texas Chicken as operating more than 1,500 locations across 25 countries and global markets — the two figures don't line up, and neither source clarifies whether they're measuring the same footprint.
The San Antonio Report also notes that Church's slipped to ninth in national fast-food fried-chicken sales in 2023, down from fifth in 2012, a fall from grace the brand appears to be countering with cultural campaigns rather than just menu tweaks. The chain rolled out a flavor profile meant to resemble its original 1952 recipe across all restaurants in September, leaning into its roots on the food side as well as in marketing.
Part of a Bigger Hip-Hop Push
Chickahhhn isn't a one-off. It follows a recent Church's activation in Chicago that featured rap artists Juvenile and Mannie Fresh, part of what QSR Web describes as the chain's broader strategy of connecting with fans through music and cultural relevance. Project Pat himself teased the release on social media, posting about the official video on X under his handle @ProjectPatHcp.
For a chain that started as a single walk-up window across from the Alamo, the full-circle marketing move taps a genre and a city that helped define Southern rap culture for decades. Whether Chickahhhn turns into a lasting earworm or a one-video novelty, it's already given Church's a fresh jolt of attention as the chain celebrates its 74th anniversary.
