Stay Hungry, a fusion of Food, Beverages, and Hip-Hop

“She thinking Philippe, I’m thinking Wingstop. Fiending lemon pepper, I got my thing cocked.” – Rick Ross in MC Hammer.

You’re not getting Philippe or Ruth Chris dating rapper Rick Ross. Your only options are Lemon Pepper or Louisiana Rub wings from Wingstop! Rick Ross and many other artists have always played on words of popular restaurants and food within the culture, making their music more relatable.

Stay Hungry is an organization that fuses food, beverage, and hip-hop all in one! Sounds dope right? Hosted by the founder Syreeta Gates, the group had their 3^rd annual culinary competition this weekend. Each team consisted of one professional chef, along with aspiring culinary kids, from different schools around New York City. The panel of judges included pop culture influencers Peter Kim, Scottie Beam, Mikey Likes It Ice Cream “Mikey” Cole, Niko Brim, and Easy Mo Bee.

Not only was the competition exciting to watch (and taste), the experience was held on the 45^th birthday of legendary late Notorious “Christopher Wallace” B.I.G. The teams paid homage to the Bed-Stuy Icon by creating dishes from famous Biggie lyrics like “A T-bone steak, cheese eggs, and Welch’s grape” .– Big Poppa.

Not only does this organization bridge hip-hop and food together but it also connects the youth with the community, giving our children an opportunity to experience the culinary arts. Stay Hungry also awarded a scholarship to one of the rising culinary members Rebecca Vega, a graduate who will be attending Hunter College this fall. Seeing the enthusiasm and energy for cooking definitely motivated me to go home and fry some chicken!

You can find more information on donating, scholarships, and tasty lyrical-driven recipes at YoStayHungry.com.