In America, 30 million people have filed unemployment claims in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Establishments are closed (for the most part), and people need help. Hip-hop artists like Cardi B, Kanye West, Eminem, Jay-Z and Meek Mill, DJ Khaled, and many more have stepped up with fundraisers, donations, and other good deeds to assist those in need.
Here’s a look at just some of their efforts.
Cardi B
Cardi B may have been a bit skeptical about the coronavirus at the outset of its arrival in the US, but she’s still giving back. In April, she donated 20,000 bottles of the OWYN plant-based meal supplement drink to healthcare workers in her native New York. Later that month, the Bronx rapper teamed with fashion brand FashionNova for the #FashionNovaCARES initiative, which is giving away $1 million dollars, or $1,000 every hour until May 20th to people affected by the pandemic. She also gave proceeds from iMarkkeyz’ catchy “Coronavirus” single (which sampled her) to relief efforts.
Eminem
Eminem referenced two of his biggest hits in his relief efforts. A week ago, his Marshall Mathers foundation teamed with Detroit catering service Union Joints to distribute tubs of “Mom’s Spaghetti” to healthcare workers on the frontlines of the crisis. The spaghetti is a reference to a famous line in his Lose Yourself track. He’s also auctioning off a pair of his Jordan 4 Retro Eminem Carhartt sneakers for the World Health Organisation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. While announcing the initiative on Instagram, he said he was “cleanin’ out my closet.”
Drake
#Drake Offers Fans A Ride On His $200 Million Dollar Private Jet to raise money for CoronaVirus relief. @Drake #ALLINCHALLENGE pic.twitter.com/ByEEnkDUYf
— theJasmineBRAND (@thejasminebrand) April 16, 2020
Drake contributed to the #AllInChallenge, which is imploring celebrities to enter items in an auction supporting charities such as Feeding America, Meals On Wheels, World Central Kitchen and No Kid Hungry. The Toronto rapper offered a lucky auction participant a weekend party package, which includes VIP treatment at LA nightspot Delilah and a ride on his private jet.
Kanye West
In April, Kanye West worked with We Women Empowered and The Dream Center to donate thousands of meals to affected families in his hometown of Chicago and his current home base of LA. Josephine Wade of We Women Empowered noted to Access Online that, “today when I got that call, that Kanye West wanted to help the elderly in Chicago and he chose his hometown in the South Side, his old neighborhood, I was beyond words.”
Meek Mill
Meek Mill and Jay-Z’s Reform Alliance sent 100,000 masks to American jails and prisons, where the pandemic is ravaging people who literally have nowhere to go to escape it. He also contributed to the #allinchallenge by offering his 2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom to a lucky winner.
Post Malone
Genrebender Post Malone embraced his rock roots by getting up with legendary drummer Travis Barker and performing a Nirvana tribute on YouTube live stream. The fundraising concert grossed $4.3 million dollars, and Google doubled the first $2.5 million in contributions, bringing the total contributions to $9.3 million for The United Nations Foundation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for The World Health Organisation (WHO).
Megan Thee Stallion & Beyoncé
Houstonites Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion stopped the world on Wednesday with the swaggering remix to Meg’s Savage track. The song may kick off a savage summer for women, and the proceeds are going to the Bread Of Life, a Houston-area disaster relief organisation feeding Houston families during the pandemic. Earlier in the month, she had the #HealthcareHotties and #HottiesAtHome hashtags trending on Twitter while sending disadvantaged people money via cash app.
