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In the world of hip-hop, for most rappers the next business step from actually being in the studio and dropping a record, is almost always to start a brand. Outside of Bad Boy Entertainment and Sean John, Diddy is probably best known for Ciroc, his line of vodka. Rihanna is getting major coins from multiple side hustles including her beauty brand Fenty which made millions in only a month after its release as well as her collaborations with Puma.

With fashion, beauty and alcohol clearly being a guarantee for most entertainers to build businesses that will last long after their hit singles, it’s refreshing to see that one popular nineties rap group is stepping outside the norm by promoting health and nutrition in urban communities. Styles P and Jadakiss, two members of the group formerly known as The Lox, have decided to bring the popular health trend of juicing to New York City. Their popular juice-bar franchise, Juices for Life, serves up vegan juices and smoothies in not just an effort to make their community healthier, but to also bring their community together to socialize and build stronger bonds between neighbors. With the motto being, “Love is Love”, Styles P shares:

“If you don’t save yourselves, we can’t be a better community all together.”

“You can change your community through the business of being healthy, so much so that if I knew … that fruits and veggies … was this important, I would’ve been spreading the word my whole life.”

Juices for Life currently operates out of four locations: one in Yonkers, two in the Bronx, and one in Brooklyn. Angela Yee, co-host of the popular morning show, “The Breakfast Club” is a famous franchisee owning a juice bar in her neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. In an interview with NBC News she shares that “juicing is a social thing” and believes the bar is important for the neighborhood to see:

“I was really excited when I heard Jadakiss and Styles P were opening a juice bar. I thought it was great because it shows they care about their community. … I think that, actually, was an inspiration to a lot of people.” “I live in Bed-Stuy. I’m from Flatbush. It’s not that easy to find places that are close by that I feel offer healthy options.”

Shortly after finishing a shift with her co-hosts Charlamagne The God and DJ Envy, Yee heads to her store to blend fresh fruit next to her juice bar team, and reminding patrons that anything served is fresh, not frozen:

“You’re not gonna have frozen strawberries, you’re not going to have frozen berries, you’re not going to have frozen anything.”

In a neighborhood where bodegas can be found on every corner with tobacco, soda, snacks and alcohol for the taking, Yee’s Juices For Life location offers a healthy option to stay hydrated without going broke. NBC News reports:

“For $5 people can choose between 19 different juice combinations like ‘Superthug’ which has apple, lemon, ginger and pineapple in it. There are $6 specials with another 51 distinct juice selections including papaya, spinach, kale, grapes and beets.”

Yee tracked down Styles P and Jadakiss after hearing about how their locations made their neighborhoods healthier, and she hopes to do the same. She says the goal isn’t to get rich but to make her community better, and reminds everyone that Juices For Life isn’t just about grabbing a Berry Blast to go, it’s about staying connected within your community, if not through their complimentary Wi-fi, than simply through a space to have conversation:

“You can do your work. You can have a meeting. Anything that it is that you need to do, you can do it in a nice comfortable safe space here.”

You can learn more about Juices for Life here and check out its recent feature on Tastemade below:

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