Hip Hop Saves Lives and Cocody Productions Present: Hip Hop Soul Jam

by AVERY SPOFFORD · July 22, 2010

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    Wednesday night at the City Winery, hip-hop lovers and philanthropists gathered to listen to live music while supporting the evening's charity: The Rural Haiti Project.

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    Attendees at last night's Hip Hop Soul Jam took in music from performers Brown Rice Family, Zing Experience and Poofy and the Busboys, preceded and followed by a DJ set featuring music genres of the Black Diaspora. The $20 admission fee went to benefit youth leadership and community development in Haiti, still struggling after this year's earthquake disaster. In addition to offering monetary support to the Hatian community, the evening included a tribute to Haitian hip hop artist Jimmy O, who passed away in the earthquake.

    Hip Hop Soul Jam was formed by a partnership between Hip Hop Saves Lives, a charitable organization dedicated to using hip hop for global change, and Cocody Productions, an event production company with a focus on the culture and arts of the African Diaspora. The concerts are performed four times a year in support of both emerging hip hop and soul artists and various philanthropic causes, seeking to bring together the two organizations' aims by combining music and charity through the power of the emerging talents showcased. Hip Hop Saves lives founder Chad Harper says the concerts abide by the motto of his broader organization, Hip Hop Saves Lives: "We don't just talk about it, we be about it."