Detroit, MI - Joseph Penrod, a Commerce Township kindergartener, possesses a ravenous appetite and a spirited love of soccer and dancing. His mother, Marissa Penrod, is determined to keep it that way. In the year since Joseph was diagnosed with a form of muscular dystrophy, a degenerative disease that could rob him of his mobility, Penrod has become a fierce advocate for her son — and an overnight concert promoter.

After a chance meeting, Penrod and local hip-hop artist Hush came up with the idea of a concert to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Penrod hopes to sell 2,200 tickets to the Feb. 5 show at downtown Detroit’s Fillmore Theatre. In addition to Hush, the benefit will feature rhythm and blues band Hot Sauce and Southern rocker JoCaine. (more…)

Hialeah Gardens, FL – Some South Florida children will not have to go without this holiday season thanks to a toy drive which is taking place Friday morning. Hip Hop superstar Pitbull, along with his foundation Imaginate, has teamed up with Power 96, and the Florida Marlins to help make the season bright for kids in need at a toy drive in Hialeah Gardens.

Pitbull has donated $5,000 worth of toys and is personally collecting new, unwrapped toys at the Wal-Mart in Hialeah Gardens. He’s also signing autographs for fans who donate toys at the toy drive. The overall goal for the toy drive is to supply 1,000 kids with toys this holiday season. All of the toys will be donated to the Amigos for Kids Foundation. (more…)

On Thursday, November 20, Immortal Technique will perform live on stage at San Francisco’s DNA Lounge, returning to the Bay to raise funds in support of a badly needed orphanage and medical center in war torn Afghanistan.

Working closely with human rights advocacy organization, Omeid International, Technique’s performance raises funds earmarked for developing the Amin institute in Kabul – where some of the two million orphaned and 60,000 homeless children of Afghanistan will receive full-scale rehabilitation from the devastating effects of war.  

Besides just doing the benefit show the hip hop artist Immortal Technique is pledging $10,000 of his own money and is traveling to the war torn heartland of Afghanistan to assure the final stages of construction are completed. (more…)

San Diego, CA – Stop the Traffick Jam, a Hip Hop concert to protest sex trafficking, will be presented from 7 p.m. to midnight Sept. 27 in the Price Center East Ballroom at the University of California, San Diego. Admission is $10 in advance and $12 at the door. The goal of the benefit concert is to raise awareness about the dangers of sex trafficking, pimping and prostitution through the use of hip hop. Co-sponsors of the concert are the UC San Diego Women’s Center and GABNet San Diego.

According to news sources, proceeds will benefit the Purple Rose Campaign against the sex trafficking of Filipina women and children, an international project of GABRIELA Network ( GABNet ), a U.S.-Philippines women’s solidarity organization. (more…)

Kanye West, T-Pain and Akon are among the performers on “True to the Game,” a compilation CD of R&B and hip-hop songs that will benefit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The CD, which will be released October 21 and distributed by Pyramid/Fontana/Universal, is the first project from Stadium Entertainment, a privately financed company that aims to combine music, social consciousness and philanthropy.

According to news sources, a percentage of the proceeds from “True to the Game” will be donated to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, which will use the proceeds to help fund a $15 million education and research center within the historical landmark building where the Negro Leagues were established in 1920. (more…)

Salisbury, NC – Hundreds of children have bags full of school supplies courtesy of a local hip hop group. Untouched Entertainment put a notice in the local Post news offering free school supplies Thursday at sites in East Spencer and Salisbury. “People are having hard times,” said Kenney Coney, one of the five members of Untouched. “We wanted to help out.”

The turnout was nearly overwhelming. More than 300 children turned out at the Kujimani After School Program at 207 S. Long St. “We ran out of everything,” Coney said. No problem. The band members, including Coney, Domonek Wilder, Steve Frost, Terrence Gooden and Lamont Tucker, made a quick trip to Wal-Mart and reloaded. (more…)

Hip Hop MC Plies, aka Algernod Lanier Washington, has announced news of his very own non-profit organization, Big Gates and Plies Power Of Visions Foundation, Inc.; as well as a scholarship program, the “Somebody Loves You” Scholarship Fund. The hip hop MC instituted the Scholarship Fund for those who have a parent(s) that are presently incarcerated and who are financially disadvantaged.

Plies, the Ft. Myers, Florida-bred, Big Gates/Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic recording hip hop MC, continues to ride the wave of success proven by his sophomore hip hop / rap release, “DEFINITION OF REAL,” which debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, selling 215,000 copies in its first week. In fact, the album’s first week sales gave Plies the highest selling first-week numbers in the history of Miami-based Slip-N-Slide Records. (more…)

Portland, OR – Hosted by local hip-hop star Cool Nutz, seven Pacific Northwest bands are donating their time and considerable talents by coming together on Friday, May 30 for the second-annual Music in the Schools benefit concert to raise money for Portland Public Schools’ high-school music programs.

The Blue Scholars, a socially conscious hip-hop duo from Seattle, will headline the concert to be held from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Crystal Ballroom in downtown Portland. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Indie bands YACHT, the Shaky Hands and Typhoon will join local student-led hip-hop groups Gray Matters and State of Mind Crew, as well as OnlyOne and Immaculate, members of internationally recognized Sandpeople group. (more…)

Haitian-born hip-hop star Wyclef Jean has launched a campaign to help his impoverished native country cope with a food crisis that sparked deadly riots last month. Jean’s Together for Haiti campaign, launched Tuesday in cooperation with the UN World Food Program and the Pan American Development Foundation, seeks to raise funds, distribute food aid, create jobs and support local agriculture. (more…)

Thursday night, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held its 39th NAACP Image Awards, which was broadcasted live on FOX. The historic civil rights organization holds the annual award show to honor the achievements of people of color in the arts, including film, television, music and literature, as well as those who promote diversity and social justice.

While there were many deserving honorees from all aspects of American culture, this year’s award show had a strong focus on both music and politics … and rightfully so. (more…)