However, '90s-era high-end eateries are losing relevance, and a new set of keen observers-Bronson, Drizzy, etc.-isn't half-stepping with restaurant picks. Chow's (and there are no shortages of Phillipe references in rap). Jay has also spit big-timer stuff about Nobu and Mr. Often, we associate this progression with Sean Carter, who on Kingdom Come awkwardly tried to establish his evolved tastes by working in a Ferragamo drop where others might have stuck with Gucci. Make know mistake: Food references in rap are no less important to establishing "I'm up on this" status than nods to luxury fashion houses. The lyric: "And you do dinners at French Laundry in Napa Valley / Scallops and glasses of Dolce, that shit's right up your alley." (The same track also includes what is perhaps the first ever locavore lyric: "I'm known to eat expensive lunches / from the farm right to the table / air straight to the plate / I doubt you can relate.") Those layers are what great hip-hop is made of. The Bam Bam brand of braggadocio is on full throttle here, offering a knowing nod to his appeal outside the rap game and referencing poutine ( poutine!) while still delivering a simple, effective couplet. Still, while reference to tweezered parsley, lamb brains, and ribiola get food nerds going, going too niche has been the downfall of many lyrically gifted MCs, and Bronson's shining moments comes when he bridges the "wow, he's a foodie rapper!" and "wow, he's a dope rapper!" divide. There's no denying that Bronson has ushered in a new era of food in rap, bringing a true gourmand's vocabulary and sensibility to the art of rhyming. Written by Chris Schonberger ( and Nick Schonberger ( lyric: "I'm on the art and the food scene / Fuck rap, laying back eatin' poutine."īronsolino fans will tell you that this whole list should be devoted to his deep stash of culinary references. It’s not that hot.Ĭrank the speakers and gorge on the 25 best food references in rap. Got a favorite that’s missing? Tweet it the hash tag #foodrap. We’ve also argued the case for each reference’s place in the pantheon, and trust us-we have heard Biggie’s “T-bone steak, cheese eggs, and Welch’s grape” line. The clips are cued up so you can press play and listen the lines-this is rap after all, so delivery is crucial. But here, we’re celebrating the hottest food-related lyrics, period. We’ve tackled the greatest food-rap MCs of all time, whose entire body of work demonstrates a commitment to the subgenre. It’s a smorgasbord that no rap historian could possibly ignore. There are poetic odes to the humble foods of the have-nots, boasts about crustacean- and champagne-fueled benders, coke-rap allegories that conflate cooking drugs with cooking meals, and even a whole subgenre of lyrical homages to Benihana. But fans of food and hip-hop would be foolish to stop there: From Rakim’s oft-quotes bars about glazed donuts and fish, to the gonzo gastronomic obsessions of avante-garde MCs like Ghostface and MF DOOM, the grub references committed to wax go well beyond a zeitgeist-y shout out to Eataly. These days, Action Bronson reigns as the undisputed king of the culinary rap style, turning mixtape drops into food-blog fodder for the first time ever. Who would have thought that hip-hop would take it this far? Yet reaching all the way back to Wonder Mike’s fumbling lines about dinner at a friend’s house on the seminal “Rapper’s Delight” (“I mean the macaroni’s soggy, the peas are mushed, and the chicken tastes like wood”), it’s remarkable how many ways MCs have found to slice and dice food references into their verses. With this in mind, it’s not surprising that food has always had a place in rap lyricism. This simple hustler’s credo has always been fundamental to the urban rags-to-riches story, which at its core is a fight to put a meal on the table, and to evolve from canned sardines to seafood towers.
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