JAY-Z’s Visit To Chicago Soul Food Restaurant Boosts Business After ‘Up & Down’ Year

JAY-Z has been an “influencer” long before the word meant something — and he recently used his star power to help a fledgling soul food restaurant in Chicago get a sweet business boost.

According to CBS News Chicago, Hov got a hankering for some short ribs and pound cake last weekend when his wife, Beyoncé, was in town performing. He’d heard about the Bronzeville Soul restaurant via word of mouth and decided to stop by, leaving owner Mario Coleman in a state of disbelief.

“I couldn’t believe it was him. Actually, when I first saw him, I didn’t think it was him. I thought it was someone else acting like JAY-Z,” he said.

JAY-Z apparently enjoyed the meal, and enjoyed it even more when he found out that Bronzeville Soul was Black-owned, so he gave the restaurant his personal seal of endorsement.

“His actual words to me was once he looked us up and saw it was a Black business, he did tell me he wanted to support Black businesses, and he said, that’s why I’m here,” Coleman said. “He said the food is good.”

Check out CBS News Chicago‘s report below:

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As a result of Jigga’s visit, the restaurant reported that it had received a nice boost in business — which the business was apparently in need of after a tough “up and down” year.

“We went through a lot of changes, but it all turned out good for everybody,” Coleman said. “We’re happy. We want it to be better, of course, but we are happy it’s not killing us to the point where we thinking like, ‘We ain’t gonna make it,’ Coleman said, according to Block Chicago Club.

JAY-Z may be popular in Chicago, but recently, Boosie Badazz claimed that he gets more respect than the Hip Hop billionaire in the south.

On Tuesday (July 25), Boosie sparked a heated debate on social media after posting a screenshot of a tweet that read: “Nobody from the South has Jay-Z ahead of Boosie on their All-Time list.”

Boosie co-signed the bold claim by writing in his Instagram caption: “I FUCK WITH JIGGA BUT THIS FACTS!! STREET N-GGAS N DA SOUTH DONT PUT HOV OVER BADAZZ.”

Boosie’s post prompted plenty of strong reactions from fans on both sides of the fence. “Neva have neva will,” fellow Louisiana rapper Hurricane Chris wrote in the comments section, agreeing with Boosie’s statement.

“If you really from down south you ain’t never hit the block and heard a n*gga bumping no dam JayZ .. cut it out ! Let’s be real,” another Southern rap fan argued.

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Someone else wrote: “In the south.. ‘Set it off’ and ‘WIPE ME DOWN’ LIGHTS THE CROWD ON FIRE waaay more than ANY JIGGA SONG [shrug emoji] that’s just southern facts.”

However, others struggled to get behind the narrative that Boosie Badazz ranks higher than JAY-Z when it comes to the greatest rappers of all time, including even those from the South.

“Yea you trippin. Definitely southern biasness,” one person wrote. “If we’re talkin ALL TIME List, Boosie not even in the top 15 imo. Damn sure ain’t no damn Top 5. Jay-Z easily is top 5 rapper all time especially lyrically[.] and I’m from the deep dirty south.”

“I fw hatch but Jay come down south and sell out arena shows, boo ain’t selling out arenas nowhere in the south. Not even BR,” another argued.

Someone else comically pointed out: “Boosie sold 500 copies his last album. Down south ain’t messing with Boosie like that either apparently [crying face emoji].”