Q: Why is Denver trivia night Black People Know Things growing so fast? A: There’s nothing else like it.

Here’s a question you’re not likely to hear at most bar-trivia nights: What meal did Biggie Smalls eat in his 1994 hit song “Big Poppa”?

If you guessed “a T-bone steak, cheese eggs and Welch’s grape,” you’d be on your way to winning a round about ’90s hip hop music at Black People Know Things, a cultural trivia series that goes deep on Black history, music, film, TV, food and other topics.

While there are a few one-off trivia nights in Denver that focus on these topics, typically during Black History Month every February, that’s about it, said Darian Wilson, the 31-year-old host and creator of Black People Know Things, as he set up equipment at Wah Gwaan Brewing Co. last month.

“There also aren’t a lot of spaces willing to risk losing customers for something like this, especially breweries, which are not typically Black-centric businesses,” he added.

Black People Know Things consistently draws 50 people to its monthly installments at Wah Gwaan’s taproom in the Art District on Santa Fe. Against wall-sized murals of reggae singer Shaggy and Damien Marley painted by local artists, the Jamaican-inspired craft brewery hosts Wilson’s fast-growing, intensely loyal fanbase, who began gathering through online meet-ups and word of mouth the third Wednesday of every month (the next one is at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16; see more at bpkt.fun).

“It’s a really lighthearted crowd,” said Sarah Graham, 38, who started coming to Black People Know Things after hearing about it through her Black Girls Brunch group on Facebook. She keeps returning to catch up with her friends on her team, Melanin Just Right.

“It’s nice finding that in Colorado, where there aren’t a lot of Black folks anyway,” she said.

Wilson’s trivia night is an unapologetically “for us, by us” event in a town where only about 10% of the population is Black, according to the U.S. Census. And yet, it has quietly asserted itself as a notable player amid the city’s dozens of established bar-trivia nights at craft breweries, including Denver behemoth Geeks Who Drink, which runs thousands of quiz nights around the U.S.

That’s due partly to Wilson’s savvy mix of humor and camaraderie, with his almost encyclopedic knowledge acting as a social bridge for Denver’s underserved Black entertainment scene. Players compete in three rounds of objective historical knowledge — History, TV/Film and Music — and duke it out during the Majority Wins category. That last one is a Family Feud-style round where team members wrangle over whether, for example, to recognize mac and cheese as the No. 1 side dish at family picnics (potato salad was a close second).

Last month, just a few days before Halloween, Wilson asked the packed bar questions about true crime, horrorcore rap and scary movies. Some players tell Wilson that his questions are too hard, which doesn’t surprise the longtime educator, who formerly directed Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver and worked for Denver Public Schools.

“If someone gets all the questions wrong, then I did a bad job, so I keep hints on deck without totally giving the answer away,” he said. “And I’m not going to yell at you about using your cell phone. I’ve been doing that the last 15 years in my day job. If you feel like you need to cheat to get a free beer, I’ll just buy you one.”

May’s Modern TV round included a question about an actor who won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama in 2015. (Hint: It was for a Shonda Rhimes-led crime drama. She was the first Black woman to ever win that award.)

That has a straightforward answer — Viola Davis — whereas September’s Majority Wins round asked “Who is the greatest Man-band of all time?” The choices were the Denver-rooted Earth, Wind & Fire, the Isley Brothers, the Gap Band and the O’Jays. Choose your fighter.

Conventional wisdom dictates that bar owners must appeal to the broadest group possible to fill seats on quiet weeknights. The idea of a Black culture quiz might seem too niche, or even political, to some bar owners, Wilson said. But after running Black People Know Things online during the pandemic, and chatting up bartenders one night at Wah Gwaan in February, he realized it had a real, in-person chance of success.

Now, after proving he can turn people out in Denver, he’s starting to build a fan base at a second location for Black People Know Things — this time at Longmont’s sci-fi/fantasy-themed Outworld Brewing, a Black-owned business. That brewery was slow to promote its first trivia night, Wilson said, due to past complaints about Black-centered beers and themes.

That’s changing, said Wilson, who’s hosting themed events that tap the trivia night’s sprawling fellowship, such as a pair of sold-out “Wakanda Forever” screenings over the Marvel film’s premiere weekend at Harkins Northfield.

Wilson will also bring Black People Know Things to the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver as part of its “Dirty South” exhibit at 6 p.m. Nov. 30. The partnership heralds even bigger things for the trivia night, given that it’s being promoted through the city’s official tourism arm at denver.org.

With a new baby at home, Wilson’s only out-of-the-house work at the moment extends to Wah Gwaan, where he also tends bar on the weekends. He admits to starting Black People Know Things as a way to make friends, and it certainly worked.

“I never thought it was going to make it off of Zoom,” he said as the last open seats filled inside Wah Gwaan last month. He smiled and waved at the stream of regulars walking through the door.

“Word about this travels fast in our group chat,” said Mariah Callins, 30, who drives to Wah Gwaan each month from Lakewood to play trivia. She and teammate Webster Johnson, 38, consider themselves diehard fans.

“It’s so much fun to decompress, but also to find young, Black professionals who look like me,” Johnson added. “Of course, it’s a lot more fun if I win.”

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.