Michael Diaz’s, aka Juan Bago, “Pan con Queso” spoof puts Washington Heights’ Dominican culture on the map. (Photo screen shot of “Pan con Queso” video)

What does a typical Hispanic breakfast like “pan con queso” have to do with hip-hop?

Washington Height’s Michael Diaz, better known as Juan Bago, and Oscar Martinez, who goes by “O,” saw the connection and rapped about it to the loop of Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow” hit hip-hop song.

Appropriately titled, the “Pan con Queso” parody went from nearly a million hits on You Tube to landing a spot in photographer Mike Fitelson’s art exhibition, “Northern Manhattan as Muse” in New York.  Diaz was one of 17 local artists selected by Fitelson.

“Mike picked me because of my humor and funny looks,” Diaz said.

In the video Diaz and Martinez, who are both Dominican, wake up to find their  pan con queso is missing. The spoof was shot in various locations throughout Washington Heights, a predominantly Dominican neighborhood.  It highlights New York’s growing Dominican population that according to the 2010 Census is 13 percent of the total population of New Yorkers or 369,200.

The exhibit showcases paintings, prints, video clips and music created by artists in the Washington Heights and Inwood area. The “Northern Manhattan as Muse” exhibition is being displayed at the NoMAA Gallery at The Cornerstone Center until Feb. 10^.

Watch the video