These 7 Rappers Have Dropped the Mic on Meat

What’s a common theme amongst some of the top names in hip-hop? It’s not their hometowns, their favorite designers, car makers, sports teams, or even their musical inspiration (although, sometimes it is!). For these five stars at least, it’s living without meat or other animal products.

The Doggfather himself just teamed up with Dunkin' Donuts to promote a new limited edition plant-based sausage breakfast offering, known as the ‘Beyond D-O-Double G Sandwich' named after the rapper. It's only selling from now through January 19th.

While not known to be purely plant-based, Snoop is embracing the plant-leaning stance in a big way. Snoop's foray into the pant-based culture last year when he became BFFs with Ironman and blogger Rich Roll, a famous vegan athlete who is an influencer in his own right. He was spotted at Atlanta's Slutty Vegan pop-up, too. Then, he got super chummy with Beyond Meat, driving a Beyond food truck around SoCal and serving up those meaty, plant-based burgers.

Now, he is plugging his sandwich for one week— note to vegan and plant-based eaters it does contain eggs and dairy! Still, this picture alone made it worth including. Courtesy of DD and Snoop. Look for the ads to start showing up everywhere!

This rapper, producer, and DJ won a Grammy for his 2006 R&B hit “We Belong Together,” bringing him to superstar status in the music world.  But his most personal victory came a few years later when he gave up all animal products for the sake of his health. Since then, he’s become an advocate for the vegan lifestyle and its many health benefits.

He’s so passionate about eating plant-based that he’s even spoken out about going vegan in campaigns for the animal rights group, PETA. Dupri will leave a studio session to go and find food that suits his vegan lifestyle, then rejoin the artists later, when everyone has eaten.

This vegan lifestyle has sparked several of his friends to ask him to take them to his favorite vegan food choices, and now he is known among his friends as an expert in where to eat vegan in cities like Paris and Miami, and of course his hometown of Atlanta. Dupri is not only a music influencer but a vegan food influencer as well!

Wu-Tang Clan frontman RZA didn’t just help nine distinct rappers from New York become synonymous with hip-hop, he’s built an empire. And he’s also helped take plant-based eating mainstream.

The rapper has been vegan since the ‘90s and has influenced a number of his fellow Wu members to ditch animal products, too. Fellow Wu-mates GZA and Killah Priest don’t eat meat, either thanks to RZA.˜

Rapper Will.i.am doesn’t just lead the Black Eyed Peas, he’s likely dining on them, too. After a health scare in 2018, the six-time Grammy award winner went fully plant-based. He said it changed his life, including leading to weight loss and improving his sleep.

In 2018 he told an interviewer that he had tinnitus, a disease that leads to full hearing loss but was hoping that his plant-based diet would keep him in optimal health. He identifies as vegan for his health, environmental reasons, and to end animal suffering. “I’m fighting for a healthier me and a healthier planet." Last year the rapper told Arianna Huffington: “I would encourage everybody to have a plant-based regiment.”

Born William James Adams, he has written about his vegan lifestyle in “Vibrations pt.1 pt.2,” with the lyrics: “You eat the yellowtail, Imma [sic] eat the plant-based. I ain’t chewing on no food, with two eyes and a face,” He also raps: “Got a new attitude, gotta stay elevated. If somebody hate, let them hate and kinda motivate.” He urges his fans to join his “V.Gang,” which he defines as “a group of people taking a hardcore gangster approach to wellness and [conscious] living.”

The “Babushka Boi” first gave up meat in 2011 (he still ate fish). But these days, he’s getting all of his protein needs from plants. According to the rapper, being plant-based helps him feel clean in his body, mind, and soul.

His lyrics mention begin vegan and he talks about being vegan on the road in a Facebook video here. His diet shift has been so profound that Rocky even recently partnered up with Jaden Smith to help provide veggie meals to the homeless through Smith’s I Love You food truck in LA.

A pioneer in the rap world as the frontman for Boogie Down Productions, KRS-One is nothing short of a legend. He’s incorporated the vegan diet into his lyrics (the song “Beef” explores the meat industry’s dark side). And he’s talked openly about it during his performances, too. If you want to go hear KRS-One he is also on tour this year, heading to the Sony Hall in NYC soon.

Also known as Mr. Béyonce Knowles and his birth name, Shawn Carter, JAY-Z has leaned into the plant-based state of mind in a major way.

Last year, Bey and Jay offered their fans a chance to win a lifetime's worth of concert tickets just for pledging to eat more plant-based food as part of the Greenprint program helmed by their trainer and vegan chef, Marco Borges. The Carters also penned the intro to his book, "The Greenprint: Plant-Based Diet, Best Body, Better World," which was released in December 2018. JAY-Z also took the pledge to heart. He committed to eating two plant-based meals a day. He's also an investor in Impossible Foods.

Seven-time Grammy Award winner Carrie Underwood has been hailed for her “enormous” vocal range. When it comes to her diet, Underwood’s a fan of breakfast burritos and lots of tofu. She doesn’t shy away from the carbs, either. According to Cheat Sheet, one of her favorite snacks is a toasted English muffin with peanut butter.

Singer, songwriter, and “The Voice” coach, Blake Shelton, 43, has been working to stay fit recently with help from his long-time love, Gwen Stefani, who is a vegetarian and told him to get off the meat if he wants to feel fitter and lose some weight. Shelton has been trying to keep up with Stefani's impressive fitness level, according to an interview Stefani gave this fall. The former No Doubt singer and Hollaback girl is a longtime vegetarian, eats a mostly vegan diet, and is super fit-- and at 50, looks younger than her years. A source told Gossipcop, “Gwen’s told him the way to lose it is to stay the hell away from meat and bad carbs.” We're rooting for him!

The best-selling female country music singer in history isn’t buying any expensive steak dinners after a performance. The “Queen of Country Pop” has sold more than 100 million records but says she keeps her meat-free diet simple. She is both vegetarian and eats very little dairy -- though at times has said she does eat eggs.

Americana singer and songwriter Annette Conlon is also a passionate vegan. She started “The Compassionette Tour,” in an effort to bring compassion, social consciousness, human interaction, and animal issues to a mainstream audience.

The Man in Black is synonymous with country music, even nearly two decades after his death (1932-2003), probably in part because of the biopic about his life starring vegan actor Joaquin Phoenix. Ask any die-hard country music fan (or your dad, for that matter) and they will tell you that Johnny Cash was one of the best-selling musicians of all-time. His scores of hits include “I Walk the Line” and "Hurt" "A Boy Named Sue" and dozens of others. Cash himself was believed to have lived meat-free later in life to help combat some health issues. At Johnny Cash’s Kitchen and Saloon in Nashville, you can also load up on the meat-free dishes as the restaurant boasts a fully stacked veggie menu that includes greens, sweet potato mash, and fried okra.