After the Earth shattered in Haiti, the outcry ““ from black people in particular ““ was a resounding “What can I do?”
Radio personality Dwight Stone offered an answer for the hip-hop community in St. Louis with a special show taking place this Saturday night at the Venue.
“I was watching the news like everybody else and I got a phone call from one of my friends ““ who is from haiti ““ and he couldn’t find his family,” Stone said. “I said, “˜We need to do something more.’ So I got with Taylor J., Jessie Taylor, KiKi and all of the people from The Beat and we started making phone calls.”
The former staff of the now defunct hip-hop station 100.3 The Beat used their connections in the hip-hop community to help haiti.
“It all started with a call from Dwight last week,” Taylor J., former 100.3 program director, said. “He was like, “˜We need to do something.'”
And so they did.
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When the show takes place, it will be the first time that many of the hosts will have been seen since the station went off the air last October. Stone hopes that fact will inspire people to do more for earthquake victims.
“When the Beat went away, I lost my job. Guess what, a lot of us are out of work right now ““ and that’s no excuse,” Stone said.
“And as bad as it is to be unemployed in America, I’m still much better off than any of those people in haiti. A lot of the victims didn’t have anything to begin with ““ and they lost that.”
According to Stone, every call was followed by a “yes” ““ from artists, promoters and the venue.
“Everybody wanted to help,” Stone said with pride in his voice. “I still haven’t heard a “˜no’ yet.”
The show grew to include anybody’s wish list of St. Louis performers on the hip-hop and R&B scene ““ the best in talent for an even better cause.
Jibbs, Ebony Eyez, Tydis, Bradd Young, Aloha, Nikko Smith, Bos, Joka, Yung Ro, Juanita Place, P-Dub, Flirt, Nite Owl, Stevie Stone, T-Baby, Spiffy, J. R., Eazzy Money, Skiddalz, and Yung Will ““ along with DJ Needles and DJ Tab on the ones and twos ““ are just some of the scheduled performers for the show that will go from 9 p.m. to midnight on Saturday, Jan. 23.