Celebrating Notorious BIG’s Birthday with @YoStayHungry

Hip Hop is everywhere you look and I am blessed to say I was raised during the GREATEST era of Hip Hop!

That era saw greats like Notorious B.I.G. emerge as our cultural leaders and I have always tried my best to teach my kids about our legends!

I was lucky enough to attend an event celebrating Biggie’s birthday hosted by @YoStayHungry and one of the realest people I have ever met Syreeta Gates!

It was a FREE culinary competition where High School students from NYC were able to flex their cooking skills with dope chefs! They took Biggie lyrics and cooked food to them, how dope is that?

So when I got invited, it was time to take advantage of the moment and educate my sons while we celebrated a real legend! Just how I like it!

Visiting The Biggie Murals

I really wanted to show my oldest son what Biggie meant to Brooklyn and decided that we should hit up all the murals in BK.

I wasn’t even sure what we were going to talk about or do besides taking a few photos, but knew it was a perfect way to get him involved.

I found this site and went to work! Think of it as a mini historical scavenger hunt but better!

We were only able to see 2 of the locations but that was all we really needed to get the conversations flowing.

Both locations were packkkkkked!

People would talk to us about Biggie but would also ask us if they could take pictures of us bonding over the mural. It made my son feel real good and he got a little education without me having to force feed him! He took pride in taking the photos as soon as he saw how happy I was to be doing this with him.

If you’re ever in Brooklyn and love Hip Hop go check out the murals with your kids and make it a day of just chilling!

The Stay Hungry Effect

The minute we walked we could feel the energy and saw the diversity that an event like this can bring! The energy and feeling of being welcomed was incredible!

You could see how happy all the High School students were to be part of this competition but to also show off their Hip Hop pride while representing NYC.

Teenagers immediately asked us if we needed anything and treated everyone in attendance like family. They helped people find seats, answered any questions we could think of and even offered to help everyone with photos.

We were there celebrating Biggie and THEM, but they focused on making sure everyone else was good!

You could see they had love for themselves and everyone else, which was dope! They brightened up the space with their energy and determination to have fun! The future is bright!

The DJ played music from different eras not just Biggie, which made it easier for the younger kids to enjoy themselves. It also gave us older heads the chance to talk about the music we were raised to with the younger generation while they showed off their dance moves to the newer stuff. No dancing for me, I have no skills lol.

Both of my sons were excited when they heard a track they knew and loved, while my 9 month old just swayed and drooled over the food. I was happy as hell watching my kids enjoy themselves with people they never met before!

The Food, Everybody Eats

Photo By @shoshots

I am one of the world’s pickiest eaters and actually had lunch before attending this event. I wasn’t sure what we were going to eat so I played it safe but I didn’t even have to!

These kids threw down and I mean THREW down in the kitchen!

They took lyrics like “Now Honeys Play Me Close Like Butter Play Toast” and added their own twist to the meals!

They straight killed every single meal they put out and had us reciting the lyrics that were their motivation!

The main meal was Spaghetti and Meat paired with a Mac & Cheese infused muffin and a side of veggies.

WOWWWWWW, that plate had me ready to pay for my meal! It was sooooo good!

I even watched my kids give me that “can I have your food dad” look lol.

Of course I gave in, who wouldn’t lol?

They also served us Welch’s Grape Juice, a biggie classic, cookies, more food and even Mikey Likes It Ice Cream came through and blessed us with some banging Ice Cream!

Bangggging!

Overall this is one of those events that make you wonder why they didn’t exist years ago! The staff did a heck of a job making sure the kids had fun while learning about a trade that might interest them.

I honestly can’t wait until they open it up to the younger kids or until my kids are old enough to participate. I know the dads that had their kids representing there were extremely proud, I saw them firsthand!

It was a great way to spend a few hours celebrating a legend while watching the future generation take pride in their cooking and the culture that raised them!

What’s your favorite biggie line? Hit me below, because its all good baby baby!!

#FatherhoodIsLit