This is Scientific Americans 60 Second Science.

I'm Erica Barris.

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The assumption is that when teenagers want to drink,

they buy the cheapest beer or booze

or just suck down whatever they can

steal from their parents liquor cabinets. But a new study finds that when it comes to liquors,

there's a racial divide. Brands like Hennessy, Koneyac, and Seroc Vodka are preferred

youth. In fact, 12 alcohol brands among the top 25

preferred brands for black drinkers don't appear at all

on the top 25 for young white drinkers. The one thing that we were able to find that tied all those brands together was that they are all heavily promoted in urban music culture.

The studies lead researcher Michael Siegel of Boston University's

graduate school of public health. There are specific songs about those

brands. There are artists in some cases actually are spokespeople for the brand. There are artists that are paid by

alcohol companies with very large marketing deals.

The findings are in the Journal of Substance Abuse.

The message of much of these lyrics is through alcohol,

and specifically through these particular brands,

you can actually obtain a slice of prestige and a

slice of upper social class, maybe not in real life, but at least it makes you feel like you're obtaining that through the use of these particular

brands of alcohol. Siegel's research also compiled examples of alcohol brand promotion.

Nas is featured in Hennessy campaigns.

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