Tech N9ne's collabo album The Gates Mixed Plate is getting mighty good airplay in clubs and on KPRS 103.3, and for good reason. It bangs. But Tech N9ne wasn't the first to put his lips to a mic and rap about making love to saucy, saucy barbecue.
Retired rapper Joe Good, aka Jamal Gamby, may not have been the first to pay tribute to Ollie Gates' restaurant chain, either, but he did so memorably on his Black Clover Records release, Hi, May I Help You?, way back in 2005.
And then, there's Mac Lethal.
Mac Lethal and DJ Sku dropped the Crown Prime Rib Mixtape, which features a gory slab of ribs as cover art, on July 25, 2008. "Black Clover has been putting out albums about Kansas City barbecue for six fucking years," Mac says. (He's the label's owner and founder.)
Tech arguably got the drop on Mac by choosing the more charismatic local 'cue provider, O.G., as his muse. But Mac says the best sauce comes from Fiorella's Jack Stack, and he can back it up.
"I will go to war with anyone over this," Mac says. "I'll sit someone down and say, 'Take a bite of this, and take a bite of this, and tell me which one is
better.' " Mac says that touring artists and bands use his place as a stopover when they're in KC all the time, and when they request real Kansas City barbecue, he takes them to Jack Stack. Then they go to other barbecue joints for comparison's sake.
"I know it's like calling Jesus Christ a faggot," Mac says, "but I'm just telling you,
out-of-towners without an emotional attachment to Gates invariably say that either Jack Stack or Oklahoma Joe's is
their favorite."
Jack Stack's detractors have their points, and Mac's heard them all. "People always say, Jack Stack is so expensive. No, it's fucking not," Mac says. "You can't go into Gates with $5 and leave full. Jack Stack is not for fucking rich, white people. It originated in Martin City. It's not the hood, but it's an almost rural, small-town area. People make it such a racial thing, they equate Jack Stack with Johnson County, which is bullshit because it's not a corporate chain, and they make better fucking food. Period. It's delectable. I love that word."
AHEM -- no offense, Mr. Gates. "I respect
the hell out of Ollie Gates and everything he stands for," Mac says. "He is the soul
of Kansas City. But let's
just be honest: I can't sit here and say that the quality of his food is
as good
as Fiorella's."
Mac Lethal and his Black Clover counterparts aren't as famous as Tech, of course, but they aren't unknowns, either. Black Clover recently released Hi, May I Help You? Beef on Bun on
Bread Edition (a direct reference to Gates) and Mac says his Crown Prime Rib Mixtape is his best-selling project to date on iTunes. "I'd be able to pay all my bills off that project alone," Mac says.
Bills? Right. We know you're blowing that mixtape money on ribs at Jack Stack. Go on, Mac, get your fix.
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Mac Lethal-
Jack Stack has deep KC roots. His dad, Russ, started Smokestack off of Prospect (and 87th I think) in 1957 and it was there for almost 50 years. So you can bring that up next time someone says it's Johnson County. Also, great quotes in the article.
Listen, Jack Stack has everything, PERIOD. You want pull pork, got it. You want lamb ribs, got it. You want Crown Prime Rib, You better believe GOT IT. The best beans in the world, PERIOD. Cheesy corn, if you havent had it you ain't living. You want salmon, got it. Best Onion Rings on the planet, got it. Sauce, the hot sauce is the best. You want Rack of Lamb, or a Filet cooked over hickory wood, got it. You worried about price you can get a half pound chopped burnt end sandwich (Poor Russ) with beans and fries for under $9. If you want a cheap quick burger go to McDonalds, if you want the best go to Westport Flea Market. You want cheap and quick go to Gates the McDonalds of BBQ. You want the best go to JackStack, PERIOD!
i like town topic, it's kinda like a mini-pulp fiction episode each time i go.. but bbq? okay, ok joes is too hard to beat and it comes with that truckstop love (hey ERIC!) you have to admire BBQ with gasoline, that is if you understand such things- but i wouldn't go sharks-n-jets on anyone over the bbq, maybe rock paper scissors.. I am pretty much hardcore
Lets all be honest for a second here. You really cant go wrong with any of them. Gates is great, Jack Stack is great, Arthur Bryant's is great, and OK Joe's is great. Which one is the best? I have no idea, i think I've changed my mind a hundred times, but they are all fucking delicious.
I love me some KC BBQ. Wyndot 2 BBQ has a very unique sauce that I like a lot, there cooks aren't great though. Jack Stack is pretty fuckin good gotta agree with Mac on that one. But I have never never had any pulled pork that has even come close to Memphis pork, NEVER. I don't know what it is but Memphis got the pork butt on lock.
??????Where's Rosedale's BBQ??????
We hear you, Mac, but the real question remains...
Would you lick a dog's butt with Jack Stack sauce on it to have sex with Mariah Carey?
RJ's is a great little place. Went after seeing it on tv. Oklahoma Joe's all the way.
Gates is overrated, Author Bryants, is good, but the best in town is Rosedale's Bar B Que, no one can top them!!!!
I like O.K. Joes Meat Smothered in Gates Hot Sauce.
I also like both artist too. I would listen to any album thats about Kansas City or KC BBQ. Everyone needs to know that Kansas City is the reason BBQ is hardcore American.
I went to 5 highschools. If you want to get into the minutiae of it, I went to 7 different schools in 3 different counties, period, across the metro. Wyandotte County, Jackson County, Johnson County. What the fuck does that have to do with my ability to differentiate between good food and shit food?
Here's where your little conspiracy theory becomes mush:
I didn't even try Jack Stack OR Oklahoma Joes until my mid-twenties. I have ALWAYS eaten Gates. STRICTLY GATES. I wouldn't even go near another BBQ joint in KC. LC's once or twice, but they got shut down for having dead birds in their fries or something.
So up until about age 23-24, I had never tried anything other than Gates in Kansas City. And I've been eating BBQ since I was a little boy. AT GATES. I had even had Austin TX and Memphis TN BBQ, but nothing besides Gates in Kansas City.
Then I tried Jack Stack. Tried to hate it. Went back there MULTIPLE times. Fell in love with it. Realized it is absolutely superior in food quality. And by the way, no, people don't eat their fucking ribs with a fork at Jack Stack.
Then I tried Oklahoma Joes, at least wanting to diss another favorited place in comparison to Gates. Yet again, Gates gets it's ass handed to it.
Then I started taking ALL of my out of town friends to any of the 3.
Sorry Kermet. Gates isn't as good.
Experience? Sure. Nothing beats the red star receipt or the Gates service. But that's not enough for me. At this point it's novelty. I want DELICIOUS FOOD.
And by the way. The Zagat National Food Survey has Jack Stack at the top of the list. They don't live in Kansas City. They just know good food.
Ribs with a fork? Fool the crown prime beef rib is served to you like you are a neanderthal. You pick up a giant leg bone and eat like a Mongolian King. That's way too real for you apparently.
If I was from out of town and my friend says, "eat this f*cking rib it's better than anything else in the city." I would say "As you wish, my good sir! Calm down buddy". And after I ate that rib he handed me a rib from a competitor (who I don't have a clue about)saying "now eat this piece of shit."
I WOULD PROBABLY SAY THE FORMER WAS BETTER!...
...just saying.
And folks think OK Joe's is for the Johnson County folks, largely. It used to be KC Masterpiece that was their crown jewel.
Jackstack is the for the folks from both sides that like to eat their ribs with a fork and knife. Largely western Jackson-county folk and Johnson county folk...and Martin City folk (LOL).
Gates is for the hometown folks (FROM KC..the real one) and some out-of-towners.
Bryants is for the Food Network folks, AND hometown folks and a lot of out of towners.
NOW! Jackstack beats all others in consistency as far as tenderness of meat and quality of cook.
Oklahoma Joes has AWESOME french fries! BBQ...wait they make BBQ?
Gates! Great sauce, hit or miss as far as tenderness goes. Sometimes it's a little fatty but I tell you what, right after I type this I'm headed to Gates. I think they just put crack in it.
Oh and by the way, GATES IS NOT JUST BBQ -- it's an experience! Nothing like someone yelling at you.
ALSO! I'm sorry but the smell of their BBQ travelling through the air is absolutely intoxicating.
Author Bryants. AWESOME meats, juicy and tender. Sauce...it's an acquired taste.
Here's how, in reality, it goes (as far as major BBQ joints go):
1. Gates
2. Author Bryants
3. Jack Stack
4. OK Joes.
In closing, I don't really think it's a race thing but it IS probably a geographic thing. I happen to be from KC-proper so I'm die-hard, stone cold Gates although I love Jack Stack. OK Joes is a joke to me (10 on pump 2 please!)
And Mac, I love you, sir! But let us not forget that you went to Shawnee Mission somethin' or other (in reference to my geographic theory)...
My two cents. Fire away!
You actually don't have to sit down and tip. Jack Stack is notorious for their walk up/carry out. Its a VERY fast service.
Mac's right. You can get a sandwich from Jackstack with fries for under $10.
They have stuff at Jack Stack that costs way more than Gates, but a good portion of the menu is cheaper than Gates.
And Okla Joes too.
Totally agree. I wish I was a bit older so I could have tried Gates when the Royals played downtown, but I do know in 2010(and for several years before) that Gates quality just isn't that good. And sorry Mac, but Jack Stack's is a bit expensive. $10 for a Zman and fries, while at Jack Stack you pay about $3-5 more, plus it's sit down so you have to tip too.
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