Rihanna, Djonga and Rincon Sapiência inspire the Rap Burguer hamburger shop in Baixo Augusta

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are among the top sellers. If you prefer national rap, you can go with Djonga, Rincon Sapiência or Tássia Reis. To go with it, the tip is to order a fries and a soda.

While the Covid-19 pandemic prevents music festivals from fully happening again, one way to stay close to the rap scene in São Paulo is to go to Rap Burguer, a snack bar in the Baixo Augusta region, downtown.

To accompany the decor and soundtrack that exalt the universe of rap and hip-hop, snacks are named after famous musicians. And there is space for everyone: foreign and national artists, vegetarian and meat snacks that are full of ingredients, in addition to always having a special sandwich every month.

As there are many artists to honor, it would be impossible to create dishes for each one. To get around the impasse, the hamburger shop creates temporary recipes, which are only a month on the menu —the case of Liberdade, which can only be seen there until November 30th. Only in this way is it possible to name hamburgers after the various important rappers that exist.

But in November, the month in which Black Consciousness Day is celebrated, the house decided to go beyond artists and create a snack that honors the black people who lived in the Liberdade neighborhood, also in the central area of ​​São Paulo.

On Instagram, the company explains that Liberdade is “dedicated to the fight against the historical erasure of black memory”. With a 160 gram hamburger, tomato confit, caramelized onion, blue cheese sauce, watercress and toasted brioche bread in butter, the creation costs R$ 34.90.

“Liberdade is known today for being an oriental neighborhood, but initially it was a black neighborhood. Over time, there was a process of whitening of the population and much of the history of some regions was erased. The idea of ​​creating the snack is to prevent there is this erasure”, says Fernando Cândido, the owner of the space.

The Rap Burger project came about when Cândido realized that there were all kinds of themed places in São Paulo, but he missed one that was made for those who like to listen to rap. Working as a systems analyst at the time, he pooled his savings and invested in opening the burger shop, which opened in August 2017.

There are even restaurants and cafeterias in the city that play rap music over the hall’s speakers, but Cândido wanted to make a house dedicated to the most assiduous fans of musical rhythm. “In these places there is a lot of rap that only plays on radio, pop rap. I felt the need to go deeper,” he says.

It’s not that people who aren’t listeners to rap can’t visit the house —Cândido clarifies that anyone who wants to know the rhythm is also welcome. “I want to show what this culture is like,” he says.

It may seem strange, but at Rap Burguer you can order a Sabotage for R$34.90, or an MC Soffia, for R$20.50, as well as bite into a piece of Rihanna & A$AP Rocky, which they baptize together a recipe that costs R$ 38.90.

The house snacks are only released with the permission of the chosen singer — at least in the case of Brazilians. The company contacts the artist, asks for permission to link his name to the snack, and asks the person to choose between some ingredient options. Only after that do customers find the artist’s name—and sandwich—on the menu.

There have been those who did not want to see their name on a hamburger. Cândido says that Emicida rejected the homage from the house. “At the time we were upset, but later we understood. He has every right to refuse,” he says.

But the story had a happy ending: the rapper decided to visit the hamburger by surprise and got to know firsthand the work done there. Cândido even suggests that, after that, the homage in a snack can finally happen.

In the list of temporary creations on the menu, there is, for example, the rapper Kmilla CDD, honored in March – the month in which International Women’s Day is celebrated. The names of Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Negra Li and Djonga have also appeared—the latter became a fixture on the menu. This is what happens when a recipe is very successful: it is promoted and rises in status on the house menu.

This is also what happened with the recipe inspired by the couple Rihanna and A$AP Rocky, created in June this year. Dipped in cheddar cheese, the sandwich was so successful that it is still one of the highlights of the house.

Vegetarians will find three options on the menu. One of them is the Rincon Sapiência, which costs R$ 27.90 and includes breaded Minas cheese, gorgonzola cheese, grilled eggplant, house mayonnaise, homemade ketchup and watercress on a toasted brioche bread in butter.

For dessert, the tip is the cheesecake, which costs R$18.90, or the petit gâteau, sold for R$19.90.

The house offers delivery through the website deliverydireto.com.br/rapburguer, but you can also order through iFood, Uber Eats or Rappi. The full menu can be seen at rap-burguer.goomer.app/menu.