Big Daddy Kane to Headline Hip-HOPE Ball for Black Health Awareness
The Brooklyn legend is working with Oya “Grand G” Gilbert to help address multiple myeloma.
Big Daddy Kane is interviewed by Ed Lover for "Backstory" at SiriusXM Studio on October 8, 2015 in Washington, DC.
Leigh Vogel
Big Daddy Kane is headlining the second annual Hip Hope Ball: A Celebration to Ignite Change. The formal event takes place in Wilmington, Del. March 14 and it blends culture, community, and health advocacy under one roof. The event is hosted by the Health, Hope, and Hip Hop Foundation, and it was founded by multiple myeloma survivor, advocate and hip-hop artist Oya “Grand G” Gilbert.
The foundation’s mission centers on health literacy and access.
“We want rooms where a pharmaceutical executive can sit at the same table as a street-level organizer,” Gilbert explained to AllHipHop. “Access and trust change when those worlds collide.”
Proceeds from the event will help to fund follow-up community events that provide free health screenings, mobile medical units, and offer access to healthcare providers, many of whom are intentionally selected to reflect the community.
Big Daddy Kane is actively raising awareness for multiple myeloma. The rare blood cancer disproportionately affects Black people, who are twice as likely to develop it compared to other ethnicities.
While discussing the event, Gilbert shared why he was excited to invite Kane.
“Big Daddy Kane made it cool to be smart, lyrical, dark-skinned, and confident at a time when that wasn’t always celebrated,” Gilbert said. “That representation mattered, and it still does.”
