Let's be fair, most food TV shows suck. If you are not the kind of person who agonises over whatever dauphinoise is or enjoys watching Gordon Ramsay swear at reality-show contestants masquerading as chefs, chances are you would rather watch paint dry. The problem is that most food shows are no fun and not particularly relatable. A new show from rapper-turned-podcaster N.O.R.E, On the Run Eatin', is changing all that.
While not the first food show by a rapper (we're looking at you, Action Bronson), it is definitely the least pretentious. Straight from the title sequence the show unveils itself as "a different type of food show" as N.O.R.E and his co-hosts gleefully rap about how they "smoke and get bent [drunk] on ma food show" while guzzling bottles of Moët on a yacht among a constellation of thongs. It all looks like the kind of rap videos a pre-Beyoncé Jay-Z was making.
If you want to try to intellectualise it, the premise of the show is about hip-hop and its relationship with food. Obviously, what and where rappers eat has been represented less than what they drink, drive and wear, but as we find out, hip-hop has some pretty deep culinary ties...