This celeb couple opened a juice bar in Hollywood and you never know who will drop by
Juicy Juice Bar can resemble a family reunion at any moment.
Owner Neri Santiago is usually there on weekends to oversee operations. Her husband, rapper turned podcast extraordinaire N.O.R.E., might pop in, any number of his celebrity friends — ranging from Kanye West to Busta Rhymes — in tow. Their kids, Noah and Nahki, fresh from basketball practice, might roll through in search of a refreshing snack.
Opened in late January in Hollywood, Juicy Juice Bar’s menu, just like the place itself, emphasizes family. Adults can come for their favorite healthy snack — avocado toast, ginger shots and nearly every fruit smoothie or juice imaginable — while also picking up one of their signature waffles for the kids.
“There’s finally a juice bar that [my neighbors] can come to,” Santiago said. “They can walk, they can bring their kids, they can bring their family and it’s gonna be amazing and delicious when they come here because it’s fresh.”
As a woman of color, Santiago is excited to “set an example that other women can do this.” Even N.O.R.E. has been quick to correct anyone who assumes the business is his.
“I didn’t get into business of juices; she did,” said N.O.R.E., pointing to Neri. “I got in the business of my wife, my wife got in the business juices. So I’m just to be here to support.”
Santiago conceptualized the idea during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. She turned into a bit of health food expert as well: Santiago is part of the reason N.O.R.E. is actually able to live up to his podcast’s name “Drink Champs.”
“He drinks a lot of liquor and I’m the one that helps him detox all that liquor,” Santiago said. “Drink Champs” even makes an appearance on the menu. “I have this drink called the ‘Drink Champs Detox’ and it will get you right.”
The Miami Herald recently caught up with N.O.R.E. and Santiago to talk Juicy, “Drink Champs” and what it means to be a “redefined gangster.” The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
C. Isaiah Smalls II: I see you rocking the “Juicy” logo on the chain. Did you always have that or did you get that for branding purposes?
Neri Santiago: N.O.R.E. gave me this as a gift for opening the juice bar but I also have to rep cause it’s just a way of advertising. It’s free advertisement. I walk around repping “Juicy” and I get to tell people about my juice bar, he gets to tell them about the ‘Drink Champs’ podcast and the other podcasts he has so I feel like it’s a perfect way for advertisement and it looks nice.
CIS: Speaking of “Drink Champs,” there’s a LOT of drinking that goes down on the podcast. How important is it for you as a rapper to showcase this side, the healthier elements that’s gonna give us longevity?
N.O.R.E.: It’s super important because a lot of people just think I just drink every day. They see four clips a week and they don’t realize I only record “Drink Champs” one time a week. But every other day, this is what I’m doing. You know what I’m saying? I’m actually detoxing. I’m actually, you know, doing the right thing. So I wanted to promote that, my wife wanted to promote that and I wanted to get behind her more.
CIS: So “Drink Champs” has definitely been on a run lately. Ghostface Killah, Alicia Keys and Kanye — you’ve certainly been killing it lately. Talk to me about the Ye interview, though. How’d you land that?
N.O.R.E.: I didn’t. Kanye landed us like we didn’t land on Plymouth rock, Plymouth rock landed on us. He hit me like on a Thursday and was like, “Can I talk tomorrow?” I don’t know who this is texting me. So I go “Who?” He goes “Ye, formally known as Kanye.” [Laughs] I just looked at the message. There’s no one else in the world else that would say that. This is this man. So I picked up the phone immediately. And he, he came the next day.
CIS: How does it feel being on the other side? I mean of course, you’re still — and will always be — a rapper but you got one of the top podcasts out right now. You are a member of the media. So how does that feel?
N.O.R.E.: I love that question because it’s weird. It’s weird because ... I want to be honest. I’ve been doing this for 22 years. I got footage of me and Nas just sitting down talking. This is ‘99, maybe 2000. Nas got an apartment in Manhattan. He’s like, “Yo, come upstairs.” I just got a camera. I don’t know why I got a camera. I got the s--- on tape. I still got it on tape to this day. And Nas was like, “Yo, one day they going pay you for this s---.” And I didn’t know what he meant because ... I didn’t know what he meant [Laughs]. That’s the start of my journalist career right there when I was just interviewing Nas.
CIS: Now that you’re on this side, any plans on going back?
N.O.R.E.: Yeah, that’s only Kanye that keep making me do that. He’s inspiring me.
CIS: You were in the booth?!
N.O.R.E.: Nah, I ain’t go in but Kanye inspired me to do a “Drink Champs” album. A compilation. And he wants to executive produce it.
CIS: Wow. So you really left Ye hanging?
N.O.R.E.: I was almost offended at first cause I was like, “Why are you telling me to rap?” Then I realized he’s way richer than me. Like by 15 million times. And then he’s sitting there saying, “Yo, N.O.R.E., I need some bars.” And this is crazy. I never said this before in my life. I don’t know who was there. So I had bars. So I wrote a rap. I didn’t write a rap for six years. I wrote a rap. I said, um, “Lighting the sage as I’m walking through the cribbo/ The world love me again. I’m like cool, ditto/ This media s*** got this s*** wrapped in plastic/ If you ain’t been on the, the champs, you probably plastic. If you don’t plan to come on the champs, go play in traffic.”
CIS: One of the aspects that makes your podcast unique is that you’re not afraid to give people their flowers. You’ll interview a Ye or a Big Sean but also OGs like Kool DJ Red Alert or April Walker who the average hip-hop fan might not know about. Why is this balance important?
N.O.R.E.: It’s very simple: Karma works both ways. If I trip, if I trip this old man right now, right? I trip boom. He fall. We all laugh. Ah ha. That s--- gonna come back to me. It’s gonna 1 million come back to you. It doesn’t matter if it’s today. Doesn’t matter if it’s 20 years from now. So if bad energy worked that way, good energy gotta work the same way. So I would rather give people, they flowers, I rather tell people how great they are. I tell people how great are and they, and some people are lesser than me. Meaning when you categorize it, these guys have never reached the plateau I’ve ever reached. But guess what? I’m gonna tell them to they face that they’re better than me.
CIS: Wow. That’s a rather unique mind-set given how ego-drive hip-hop is. Was N.O.R.E. always like this or did you have to grow into this way of thinking?
N.O.R.E.: It’s a great question. You know why? It’s a great question because I question everyone else that say they live a street life and don’t have the same attitude as me. Because if you lived a street life, you should be thankful to be here. You angry there and angry here. Are you sure you was really there? Like I don’t think you was really there [Laughs]. And you know, that’s something I give to the Breakfast Club all the time. Breakfast Club be like, “You see how happy N.O.R.E. is? That is a real, redefined gangster.” And that’s real s---. Once you escape from what you escape, you supposed to be happy. I don’t care if you make $2 a hour.
Juicy Juice Bar
Address: 3808 S. Ocean Dr., Hollywood
Info: https://www.juicyjuicebars.com/
