Yo-Yo's Cooking Tips For Winning Hearts (And Rings) [Exclusive]

Yolanda ‘Yo-Yo’ Whitaker continues to defy the odds. 

Not only is she a rap pioneer and someone who has long pushed the needle for female empowerment forward, this superstar also throws down in the kitchen, and Yo-Yo’s latest era allows fans a front seat to witness her throwing down in the kitchen!

In 2023, she kicked off the first season of Downright Delicious With Yo-Yo, a fun-filled series airing on aspireTV, where Yo-Yo whips up her favorite dishes, cocktails, and desserts alongside close family and friends.

The highly anticipated new season, which premiered on Oct. 16, includes special appearances from Naughty by Nature’s Vinnie Brown, Loved to Death actor Tobias Truvillion, and, of course, her mother, affectionately known as Momma Mia.

After seeing her dominate hip-hop, Yo-Yo is now serving it up in the kitchen, dishing the details oln how sharing her culinary side has changed how she shows up as a woman outside of music, the meal she makes when trying to impress someone, and the “Don’t Play With My Yo-Yo” emcee even spills the tea on that meal that will get you that ring (listen up ladies).

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Embracing Her Femininity Through Cooking.

“The transition was already happening in my life, just being more present,” Yo-Yo told Madamenoire. 

“Being more vulnerable, humbling myself enough to take out the middleman in my life, and I think me taking out the middleman in my life has allowed me to show up for myself, show up for my family, be more involved, and being more involved in the kitchen, which I’ve always done, and me surrendering to God, asking God for more, and God gave me a cooking show. [He] sat my butt right on down. Now, I’m rapping in the kitchen. It’s a full circle for me, from radio to cooking to hip-hop — community, working with youth, my hip-hop literacy program. It’s just really full-circle. A whole generation of people who knew nothing about me gets a chance to see me on aspireTV.”

Her Belief On ‘The Way To Someone’s Heart Is Through Their Stomach.’

Yo-Yo notes the level of trust that comes with someone allowing another person to make them a meal, which is why she one-hundred percent believes in the saying that ‘the key to someone’s heart is through their stomach.’

“I’m going to make you love me. My goal is to make you love me. My goal is to show you my love. My goal is to show you love,” she expressed. “My goal is to get you to love me, because love, when that respect is there, people can feel your warmth. They feel like they can trust you.”

She added, “When I get somebody to trust me, we can build with each other. You don’t feel like you’re in this world alone, and that’s what it does. I think cooking does that for me. It’s a way for me to show my love in a different form. I call it my remix because I hear music all the time. That’s the way I cook. I mean, girl, you play some Anita Baker while I’m cooking? I might cook two meals, you know what I mean?”

Yo-Yo’s Go-To Meal For Leaving A Lasting Impression

When asked what meal she makes to impress a special someone, the Los Angeles native quickly shared that it would more than likely start with throwing a steak in the broiler.

“I am broiling some steak. I’m making my oyster ribeye steak,” said Yo-Yo. I’m making some mac and cheese, some collard greens, or, if I’m not doing that, I’m making some beans and rice with some short ribs, cornbread, some of my creamy buttermilk cornbread, with some butter oil, salted butter in the middle of that.”

“I really love to cook what people want,” she added, “Everything I make becomes a favorite because I make it to everyone’s liking, not too much spice, but just enough. I mean, I’ve never had anyone run to the cabinet and ask for salt and pepper or hot sauce.”

The Importance Of Opening Your Heart To Love.

As someone who’s always stood for empowering other women, Yo-Yo was happy to lend words of wisdom to ladies who may be in the midst of building their careers, protecting their peace, and still wanting to make space for love.

“I can only speak for myself,” she said. “I think in my transition of me trying to grow and become a better woman, a better mother, I had to get real with myself. I had to surrender. I had to talk to God. I had to make some changes in my life and understand. I had to do more research. What is this life? Figuring out not to chase money, but to allow it to just come. I had to be broken down to know that I am rich with nothing.”

Yo-Yo added, “So, now, I’m not chasing life, I’m not chasing fame. I’m not chasing celebrity. I’m not trying to be in the room with everyone. God is placing me in the rooms that he wants me to be in, and I’m meeting amazing, new people. So don’t be afraid of change. I think forgiving your past, forgiving yourself, too. Many of us want to be perfect. I lived a pretentious life for a long time, pretending to be what people wanted me to be. But I like myself now, and I like who I am.”

The Meal That’s Going To Get You The Ring.

When asked this question, someone in the background of the interview quickly exclaimed that for Yo-Yo, it would be her famous fish tacos. 

For others, she says the one meal that might guarantee you that ring is knowing how to make a good steak.

“I mean, you make a nice steak, a man will love you, with a nice salad, I mean, don’t underestimate those salads, honey. You can put some beans in there, and all this different stuff—a nice, homemade salad dressing, with some fluffy lettuce. I mean, spice it up. You can make a miso soup, glazed salmon, or any kind of honey salmon in a broiler. Learning how to do something like that. A simple, nice, clean dish.”

She also revealed that cooking alone won’t get you the ring, but cleaning up after you cook will also do the trick.

“How do you clean a pot?” Yo-Yo asked. “While it’s hot.  The way to keep a man is if you can cook and you can clean.”

New episodes of Downright Delicious With Yo-Yo premiere on Thursdays at 8 PM ET, with past episodes available to stream anytime on aspireTV Plus.

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