A New York night at the Kiss Cafe x Kolkata Chai Company collaboration
NEW YORK — Hundreds of people packed Kenmare Street on Tuesday night for the release party behind Kiss Cafe and Kolkata Chai Co.’s collaboration, a limited-time menu that pairs Jadakiss’ coffee brand with the Hasan Minhaj-backed chai company. Jadakiss and Minhaj hosted. Dave East and DJ Pvnch came through, and DJ Sharad of the Heavy Hitters ran the music. By the back half of the night the hot drinks were gone, but the iced rose and vanilla chai was delicious.
DJ Enuff, the Heavy Hitters founder, found his high point in who was standing next to whom.
“Biggie’s son was here, and Jadakiss’ son was here, and just seeing both of them together, that’s what made me just light up today,” he said.
Enuff came up when a DJ’s reputation lived in his hands. Livestreaming added a second job.
“When I first became a DJ, I had to learn how to become a DJ,” he said. “I had to make sure my skill was on point, up to par. My transitions had to be smooth … And then I had to integrate the camera. And then holding it at the same time while [DJing], that became a thing, and I was like, ‘Oh man.’ So that was always a challenging thing for me. I have to be honest, bro.”
His advice to anyone entering the music business now starts with belief and goes a step further.
“Believe in yourself, but more importantly, bet on yourself,” he said. “Everybody’s always trying to bet on something else or try to do what everybody else is doing. Just do what you do, do it the best of your ability, and then … filter out all the noise, ’cause noise will come.”
Chad Piff, the West Orange, New Jersey, singer and guitarist who leads what he calls the Modern Day Hippie movement, read the night as a business lesson.
“Nights like this are always about networking and meeting new people,” he said. “Everyone loves Jada. He’s in everybody’s top five. So why wouldn’t this event right here be a network hub?”
He also saw a debt being paid to hip-hop’s elders, and he pointed to rock fans for the model.
“We gotta love our legends like the rock and roll dudes,” Piff said. “They literally worship them.”
The pairing looked unlikely on paper, which was part of his point.
“There’s no ‘I’ in team, and no one can do this by themselves,” he said. “Whoever knew Jada knew about coffee and tea?”
For Enuff, the crowd mattered more than the menu. Kolkata Chai was founded by brothers Ani and Ayan Sanyal, first-generation Indian Americans, and the room reflected that.
“For these kids who are brown right here, and I mean the Indian kids, they feel like they in last place, like no one sees them,” he said. “So for Black and brown kids to come together right now … it seems like it’s more crowded here than anywhere else. So we’re doing something right.”
The Feast of San Gennaro, in its 100th year, was running a short walk away on Mulberry Street, but with “All About The Benjamins” blasting out of a tea shop, you probably didn’t even notice.