2 Chainz Partners With Pepsi Dig In For Restaurant Residency In Las Vegas
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2 Chainz loves a good meal and has constantly found a way to bring it up in his rap bars. The 46-year-old artist is partnering with Pepsi Dig In for a restaurant residency program in Las Vegas that will highlight Black chefs.
Five Black chefs and restaurant owners will be involved, offering limited edition dishes from their respective restaurants. Cranky Granny’s Sweet Rolls, owned by Sianni Dean, will serve their Churro Cinnamon Roll; Taylor’s Tacos, owned by Taylor and Maya Mason, will serve their Extra-Juicy Chicken Tacos; Blk Swan, owned by Saon Brice, will serve their Seafood Risotto; LoLo’s On The Water, owned by Raymond Mohan and Leticia Skai, will serve their Island BBQ Beef Shank Platter; and Bridgetown Roti, owned by Rashida Holmes, will serve their Curry Channa Doubles.
The Atlanta rapper was thrilled about the opportunity to highlight those who have dedicated their lives to providing for others via food service, especially in Sin City. “I just think it has a strong correlation with what I’m doing,” he told VIBE. “I have a residency in Vegas already for performing. I’m a owner of a restaurant. So I just think with those two worlds combined, who else better for the job but myself?”
This is the second year that Pepsi Dig In will partner with MGM Resorts Internationals to provide this special opportunity for Black chefs, and the “No Lie” rapper doesn’t take his involvement lightly. “Pepsi Dig In is doing a great job of actually recognizing those Black restaurants, putting them on a platform that they otherwise probably wouldn’t get the opportunity to get,” he said. “And really just highlighting great dishes, great stories behind these businesses, the whole atmosphere included. So it’s just a blessing to be in this position.”
2 Chainz opened his restaurant, Esco Restaurant & Tapas, back in 2016 and will be bringing one of his favorite dishes to Vegas as well. Mandalay Bay’s Libertine Social and Luxor’s Public House will feature Esco’s Blackened Salmon Alfredo Pasta for four weeks.
“My restaurant has everything,” Chainz said about Esco. “We got everything from turkey burgers to lamb chops to lobster. I eat salmon three or four times a week. I don’t eat it with pasta all the time, but that is my favorite meal from my restaurant because it’s just tasteful and flavorful. It looks pretty on the plate. Sometimes I just want to frame it. And it’s something that I wanted to bring [because] I’m thinking about how diverse Vegas is.”
This is an exciting time for the Dope Don’t Sell Itself rapper as he is gearing up to expand his restaurant, which currently has locations in Marietta, GA, and Columbus, Ohio, to another new location. “We have Esco Memphis that’s about to open,” 2 Chainz revealed. “I’m super excited about Esco Memphis. I love the owners. I love the location… Being able to come up with a brand, keep it open for more than two or three years and to be able to scale it up to franchises is a blessing in itself.”
While he’s focused on food, the music never stops. He spoke about being focused on Collegrove 2 with Lil Wayne, which he recently said would be out before the end of the year, and his long-awaited collaborative project with Statik Selektah. “I can actually see the future,” Chainz said. “I know what I’m doing next. I’m not trying to put anything else out between those two projects. Hence, the reason you hadn’t heard from me in about a year or so. [I’m] just trying to gather all the right pieces and clearances for the Wayne and myself project that I’m super excited about it. A real rap album, great beats, metaphors, ‘steel-sharpens-steel’ type of energy.”
He continued, talking about the Statik project and his intentions there. “With the Statik Selektah campaign, I’ve obviously recorded some more new songs. It’s just about letting people know, I would say what my pen like, but I don’t write. So it’s just like to let people know where I am lyrically. And a lot of people know, but sometimes it can get lost in the trap, 808s, and stuff like that.” The Grammy winner said he is excited to rap over samples and boom bap, and evidently, fans won’t have to wait much longer.
2 Chainz says ‘ColleGrove 2’ w/ Lil Wayne will drop before the end of the year!??? https://t.co/YNb78MLGXB pic.twitter.com/0B4pLWcm1I
— The Source Magazine (@TheSource) September 22, 2023
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