It was 2014 when almost everybody had “the club going UP… on a Tuesday!” That was rapper’s iLoveMakonnen’s certified platinum breakout single, which featured Drake on the remix and peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. But a recent video of the Grammy Award-nominee working in a kitchen went viral, prompting some folks to notice how celebrities are just like us in a sense— doing what you got to do to make ends meet.
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In a clip shared online, the former OVO rapper wore an apron in a restaurant kitchen. “At work type sh*t,” iLoveMakonnen, born Makonnen Kamali Sheran, said. “We’re working and getting this money.” He later offered to “come guest chef” at your spot just, “Let me know what city. I’m coming through, hookin’ up.”
“I did my long shift last night and it seems like everybody in the world has got the news that I be in the back cooking and cheffing and working, flipping fries and burgers and all that,” the 36-year-old, who left OVO in 2016 over “creative differences,” said on TikTok. “It’s like, so what? I gots to get on my grind, get this money for me, my family, my friends.”
Nika King, who played the mother of Rue (Zendaya) on HBO’s “Euphoria” for the first two seasons, posted a video on Instagram of her cleaning a kitchen. She captioned the clip: “A job is a job.” After fans tried to encourage her, she posted a follow up video clarifying her working at the Fort Lauderdale-based Blue Tree Cafe Vegan Soul Food, which she co-owns with her mother, isn’t a setback.
“Let me be clear, there is no issue with cleaning the kitchen,” King said. ”That is honest work. And let me tell you, I’m OCD, so I get in the crevices.”
In 2018, Geoffrey Owens, who played Elvin on “The Cosby Show” from 1985 to 1992, made headlines after a customer took a picture of him working at Trader Joe’s. After his acting roles became too inconsistent, he picked up a job at the grocery store chain, later clarifying how folks have a “false impression of what the average middle-class actor makes.” He noted his residual checks from the now-disgraced NBC series weren’t ever “particularly wonderful,” especially after the show was no longer syndicated. After fans and celebs alike, including Nicki Minaj, Terry Crews and Tyler Perry, expressed their support, he went on to appear in “The Haves and the Have Nots” and CBS’ “Poppa’s House.”
The stories of Makonnen, King and Owens simultaneously strips away the “allure of Hollywood” and spotlight just how complex “reality really is.” The payout for a single role can dry up quickly, especially after paying agents, lawyers, reps, and accountants their due fees. Even though some folks were discomforted by seeing what they deemed to be successful celebrities take on regular schmegular jobs, these celebs don’t want you to feel sorry for them because their work ethic surpasses all forms of labor.
Although America is not in an official recession, per The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), there are growing concerns about the state of the economy. The unemployment rate remains low, but the job market shows signs of losing momentum. The number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits remains steady, but because that number has not dropped, the number of folks who continue to receive benefits is near a four-year high, suggesting it’s taking longer for people to find new work.
“If you out here and you [make] an honest living,” King said online, “You not scamming, you not mistreating people, you not taking advantage of people — you out here doing an honest job, and you chasing a dream on top of that — shout out to you, you the real hustler.” *mic drop*
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