NEW: Kanye on Keto diet/ Another listening party NEXT WEEK?

sprite

Jul 29, 2021

Scoop: Kanye is really living at MBS in ATL and there is speculation he may hold another listening party event in coming weeks.

mlive.com/news/2021/07/3-flint-natives-cooking-for-kanye-west-while-he-finishes-album-donda.html?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true

STORY:
Yes, Kanye West is living out of Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia to finish his album.

And three Flint native chefs are staying to cook for him.

Chefs Nathaniel Brown, Willie Wallace and Manager Anthony Naylor, all Flint natives, are running the kitchen for West, who held a listening party for his new album, “Donda,” at the stadium last week and has stayed there since.

Wallace, who now lives in Los Angeles, serves as one of the rap superstar’s rotating group of chefs. He’s cooked for West in Tokyo, Wyoming, LA and now Atlanta, Wallace said.

Wallace and Naylor, the group’s manager and impromptu chef, gave the call to Brown, who still lives in Flint, to cook for West’s private party of more than 200 people during the listening party streamed on Apple Music on Thursday, July 22. The same listening party that broke Apple Music livestream records with more than 3.3 million listeners.

Brown flew back to his family in Flint on Friday and found himself on another flight back out to Atlanta less than 24 hours later.

Wallace told Brown that one of the world’s best-selling music artists was going to stay in the stadium to finish the album. Wallace needed Brown back in the kitchen for at least two weeks.

“We were literally up for 48 hours. We couldn’t go to sleep because of breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night service (at the listening party),” Brown said.

This is a first-time thing for Brown, but Wallace has worked for West on and off for several years. He’s also cooked for rapper Travis Scott and former NBA player Stephen Jackson. Brown and Wallace go back all the way to elementary school in Flint.

The three Flint natives agreed that this experience helps validates them and their careers.

“We don’t even know that we deserve so much more. We don’t get to see a lot of this stuff growing up in Flint,” Naylor said. “We don’t even know we are connected to rooms like this. ... I was supposed to be here the whole time.”

Wallace and Brown compared themselves to other Flint greats who have gone to do outstanding things like acting, playing sports and artists.

“It means everything to me, because Flint is the holy land,” Wallace said.

Brown called this experience one that he’ll never forget and something that will propel his career to another level.

“The greatest thing for me was to be able to sit my kids down and tell them to keep following their dreams,” Brown said. “This is what I’m talking about. We dreamed about doing stuff like this. It’s surreal.”

The crew’s so far stuck with an all-keto menu that’s featured jerk chicken sausage, lobster tails, pineapple upside-down cakes, buffalo cauliflower and 24-hour marinated ribeye.

Brown was honored to cook a blackberry French toast bake that his mother originally taught him. He called his mom to tell her that her recipe was the first thing that West put on his plate.

“The smile on her face was priceless,” Brown said.

In Brown’s first time meeting West, the rap artist and fashion mogul heard that Wallace was on a keto diet. About 15 minutes later, the chefs got a text from West saying that he wants all the meals to be keto from there on out.

“Ever since I started working for Ye, its been a challenge. He brings the best out of me,” Wallace said. “When he walks into a room, his aura is so big. It does something to you. When you are cooking for one of the best entertainers of all time, you can do nothing but be great yourself.”

Since the listening party Thursday night, it’s been a revolving door of stars, Brown said. Rappers Pusha-T, 2 Chainz and producer Mike Dean are just to name a few.

“You never know who might walk in here,” Wallace said.

Many of the stars have come to talk to the chefs about their lives, meals and interests, too, which helps the Flint natives feel comfortable.

“People don’t pay attention to chefs. This is revolutionizing the chef game,” Naylor said. “This has been a Rockstar journey.”

Brown, who used to coach girls basketball in Flint, got to tell 2 Chainz that he used to have plays named after the rapper.

“No matter who it is that comes in here, they come up to us and want to meet us,” Wallace said. “That’s one thing I love about Ye -- he’s a big foodie. He appreciates the art and love that we put into the food.”

Brown and others speculated that there may be another listening party event, or something similar, next week that the chefs are ready to prepare for.

The Flint natives are prepared to stay however long West needs them, Brown said.

GEOLINK

Jul 29, 2021