Hip Hop on your Plate!
The Influence of Food on Hip Hop
It’s Saturday 5 PM, two hours from now your friends will arrive. Earlier that day you went to the market to do groceries and made a nice selection of wines at your local wine shop. Everything is set, the only thing left to do is the cooking itself.
You put on your most recently discovered songs and start chopping up the vegetables. For 2 hours long you deeply focused on the complicated dish you’re making, in the meanwhile your blaring along with the music. The evening still has to start but will it get any better than that?
The Influence of Music
Music and Food are two things that go together like fries and mayonnaise, they are complementary to each other. In professional kitchens, music is played in order to create a comradeship feeling and it keeps the chefs sharp, amped, and motivated. In most home kitchens music is played for pure pleasure, it makes cooking for a lot of people more fun. Music is a key ingredient. The Swedish Chef explains this perfectly with little words.
In the past couple of years, I worked in professional kitchens with various persons from different backgrounds. And even though nobody knew each other very well, MC’s and their rhymes made us connect. Hip-hop was a topic where everybody could talk about and everyone had an opinion on, good or bad. It was the number one genre being played in the kitchen throughout the years. I was 14 years old when I started working in the kitchen, and so hip hop became a big influence on me. Today, it still is the no.1 genre being played from my speakers or headphone.
Hip Hop
One of the main reasons why Hip Hop is such an admired genre within the food sector is that a lot of kitchen staff are able to find themselves in the lyrics of certain Hip Hop songs. Most people who work in a kitchen come from difficult backgrounds, something they share with many hip-hop artists. Hip Hop artists stand famous for describing their difficult backgrounds in pure honesty.
From standing on the corners, boppin’
To drivin’ some of the hottest cars New York has ever seen
To droppin’ some of the hottest verses rap has ever heard
From the dope spot, with the smoke Glock
Fleein’ the murder scene, you know me well
From nightmares of a lonely cell, my only hell
Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem) - Jay Z (Vol.2…Hard Knock Life)
But, Hip Hop artists also love to brag about their wealth. One way of expressing their wealth is through the use of implementing exotic foods and drinks in their rhymes. This is practiced by the likes of Nas, Drake, The Notorious B.I.G., Sugarhill Gang, Kanye West, 50 Cent, Rick Ross. The list goes on forever, but I think you get the point.
Lobster and Celine for all my babies that I miss
Chicken finger, french fries for them hoes that wanna diss
Many MCs use words like champagne, lobster bisque, caviar, escargots, and foie gras to show their audience what an evolved taste they have. This is especially done by the older generation of MCs. The more modern artist is expressing this not by explaining what they eat but where.
Middle finger to the media
Hypocrites can’t touch me
I’ll be in Dubai eating at Nobu
Word to Dumi and T, this food tastes lovely
Nobu is one of the most often referred to a restaurant in the hip-hop genre. It is a Japanese fusion-style cuisine founded by Nobu Matsushima. The first Nobu restaurant opened its doors in 1994 in New York with the help of none other than Robert De Niro. Ever since Nobu has been expanding worldwide and the celebrities just kept rolling in.
But Nobu isn’t the only one.
And you do dinners at French Laundry in Napa Valley
Scallops and glasses of Dolces, that shit’s right up in your alley
However, food and restaurant references in songs are not only for bragging. Many MCs use food in a way to describe the struggle from their early beginnings with a nostalgic tint. The most famous example comes from a group named Sugarhill Gang.
Have you ever went over a friends house to eat
And the food just ain't no good?
I mean the macaroni's soggy, the peas are mushed
And the chicken tastes like wood
So you try to play it off like you think you can
By sayin that you're full
And then your friend says, "Momma, he's just being polite
He ain't finished, uh uh, that's bull!"
But most of the time it is just an appreciation for the world of culinary arts. Since food is an important part of our lives and MCs many normal things in life as inspiration for their lyrics, it is not surprising to see food references in songs or even whole songs dedicated to it like Loyle Carner’s song Ottolenghi.
(Aye) They ask about the bible I was reading
Told them that the title was misleading
Labelled it Jerusalem but really its for cooking Middle-Eastern
Big Influencers
If we’re talking about Hip Hop and Food and how it’s intertwined there are a few important names and works we definitely have to mention. There are a few MCs who share a closer relation to the world of cuisine than just using food terms in their rhymes. They either have a working background in the kitchen or used food-related words in their rhyme schemes that had and have never been done since then.
I think back to my first Maybach
Baby blue sides, I called her my Similac
Six-deuce every time, I never had the Heinz
Fifty-seven can’t ketchup (catch up) to mines
Action Bronson
The first person we’ll talk about is probably the most acclaimed food MC: Ariyan Aslani aka Action Bronson.
While naturally I’m jealous because I’m lonely
At times my only friends in life are drugs and a cannoli
Born in Flushing Queens in 1983 Action was since his young beginnings surrounded with good food. This was due to his parents, an Albanian Muslim father and American Jewish mother, who provided the house with traditional delicacies.
Around his 20’s Action began working as a gourmet chef in kitchens around New York. But after having an accident in the kitchen where he broke his leg, he was out for a couple of months. This is when he began rapping.
In 2011 his first two mixtapes came out, Dr. Lecter and Well Done. The references to his past job and love for food are immaculate and he doesn’t hold back to show his knowledge about the culinary arts.
Got the lamb rack, pan-roasted, laced it with fennel
Little yogurt that been drizzled over might be a winner
Come and see me, Nona hand-makes the fettucini
Halla makes the baklava, getting paper kahskaval
Lyrics like this kept their place in the albums that followed (Mr. Wonderful, Blue Chips 7000, White Bronco, Lamb over Rice, and Only for Dolphins). Next to bringing food in music he also brought it to the TV. In his series F*ck that’s Delicious he travels to almost every corner of the earth to taste the local delicacies.
Action might be the one who took Food and Hip Hop to the next level by writing albums full of food references, being the face of a food documentary, releasing 2 cookbooks and multiple products like olive oil, natural wine, and cider. However, there is one MC who walked a similar route.
Raekwon
In addition to his solo career, Raekwon aka Corey Woods is best known for his participation in one of the most important Hip Hop groups in history: Wu-Tang Clan. Raekwon came into the group and brought, according to other members, a new flavor. Hence why his nickname became ‘Raekwon the Chef.’
Might sound simple but the nickname had a deeper meaning for Raekwon which he explains in an interview with Food & Wine:
You know what’s crazy? Me and RZA had a song back in the day before we got on—before we even been in the music business. The name of the track was called "Food." Food is like thought. Food was always mental nourishment, knowledge for us. So instead of calling knowledge this or that, we’d say, “Yo, that food was good. You gave me good food that day.”
Later on in the interview, he explains why food always has played a vital role in his life and how he implemented it through his rhymes. Raekwon sees his rhymes as meals and likes to serve these to others. The best example that can be found is in the song Ice Cream on his first solo album.
Watch these rap niggas get all up in your guts
French vanilla, butter pecan, chocolate deluxe
Even caramel sundaes is getting touched
And scooped in my ice cream truck, Wu tears it up
Raekwon brought a lot of food to the table of Wu-Tang and all the solo projects of his friends. This makes it difficult to measure the impact he’s made on the food-rap genre but he was one of the first ‘chefs’ in the hip hop genre who used food references continuously through his works.
MF DOOM - MM…FOOD
This must be the pinnacle of the food rap genre. In case you find yourself in the same position as mine, loving Food and Hip Hop, this is a must-listen. Even if you’re not into Hip Hop it is still very much worth a listen. These next lines might convince you.
What up? To all rappers: shut up with your shutting up
And keep a shirt on, at least a button-up
Yuck, is they rhymers or strippin’ males?
Out-of-work jerks since they shut down
Chippendales
They chippin’ nails, DOOM tippin’ scales
Let alone the pre-orders that’s counted off shippin’ sales
MM…FOOD is a concept album made by the alter ego of Daniel Dumile, MF DOOM. DOOM described the concept of the album as ‘the things you find on a picnic, or at a picnic table’ and so he named the tracklist after a few of these things. Now I don’t about that to be honest, the picnics I know doesn’t icnlude any Vomitspit, Poo-Putt Platter or Hoe Cakes.
DOOM might have missed the mark as regards the tracklist, however, he nails the food rhymes. With his unique flow, constantly using multi-syllabic rhyming, he throws in gastronomic references in such lyrical complexities you aren’t even able to catch all of them.
Beef rap, could lead to getting teeth capped
Or even a wreath for mom dukes on some grief crap
I suggest you change your diet
It can lead to high blood pressure if you fry it
Or even a stroke, heart attack, heart disease
It ain’t no starting back once arteries start to squeeze
Take the easy way out phony, until then
They know they wouldn’t be talking that bologna in the bullpen
But not only his flow is impressive, but his knowledge about the food cuisine is also quite extensive. In the song Gas Drawls, which isn’t actually on MM…FOOD but on Operation Doomsday, he describes the following:
The supervillain cooler than a million, I be chillin’
Still quick to slice squares like Sicilians
So while it's not on his overt "food" record, this line stands out in DOOM's oeuvre for the masterful food wordplay. This line is a double entendre, which means it has a double meaning. DOOM combines the word ‘Sicilian’ which is an association with the mafia who are infamous for killing those they consider ‘square’ (slang for a law-abiding citizen that adheres to the rules) and the Sicilian Pizza that is always sliced in square pieces.
The influence of Food on Hip Hop and vice versa is immense. The relation between the two nowadays is stronger as ever. The number of MCs marketing food-related products and shows like F*ck that’s Delicious strongly reinforces this bond. I’m excited to see what other beautiful things the relationship between these two will bring. We may soon see the first Michelin restaurant run by an MC, who knows?
Thank You!
And that’s it for 2021! What a year it has been! Our table has quadrupeled, 31 new stories were served and before we knew, we’re here at the end of the year. We would like to thank you for reading our Edits in the past year and becoming part of our neverending table.
But before we head on to the new year, we would like to reflect on the old year with you and so we invite you to give us feedback on the last year. What do you think should change? What did you like? And what would you like to see in the near future? Feel free to write down whatever you feel is necessary!
For now, we wish you a happy New Year and a solid hangover tomorrow!
Stefan & César
I’m glad someone else is thinking about the MMM…FOOD album. It’s one that I tossed around this year, but didn’t have a story for. Happy New Year!