24-Hour Rapathon Promoting Positivity and Healing

On Saturday, May 12th 2007, at 9:00 p.m., HOT 97 Radio, Converse, and ImNotSigned.com will partner with the Global Artists Coalition nonprofit to host the world’s first-ever 24-hour Rapathon and Fundraiser, benefiting The Hip Hop Culture Center in Harlem.

The Rapathon will be a show of solidarity between old-school and new-school artists and as many as 100 emerging hip hop artists and DJs culled from three city-wide auditions. For 24 hours, MC’s, rappers and other artists will orchestrate the world’s longest, ongoing rhyme session, free of cursing, abusive or foul language, while attempting to set a new world record. Custom beats by world-famous producers from the ImNotSigned.com website, including Jazze Pha and Bryan Michael Cox, will provide the backing tracks. The event will be pay-per-viewed live on GACNY.com with contributions benefiting the Global Artists Coalition nonprofit, the founders of the Hip Hop Culture Center in Harlem.

Located at 2309 Frederick Douglass Blvd. on the second floor of the Magic Johnson Theater in the heart of historic Harlem, The Hip Hop Culture Center is New York City’s first official permanent Hip Hop exhibit and cultural arts center. The mission of the Hip Hop Culture Center is to provide a state-of-the art community center and historical archive, where Hip Hop can be used as a positive motivator and tool for reaching disconnected and underserved youth. The Center soft-launched in October 2006, with the official launch scheduled for September 2007.

“Hip Hop is at a crossroads,” says Terry Nelson, founder of The Global Artists Coalition. “It is the biggest selling music amongst 13 to 24 year olds worldwide. Together, with HOT 97, we hope to leverage the tremendous influence that this music has on our youth by offering the most positive elements of this art form and giving those who care a chance to encourage a collective movement in the right direction.”

The fundraiser starts at 5:00 p.m. with a Plan B Dinner, hosted by HOT 97 Radio personality Raqiyah Mays. Here, sponsors and other attendees will experience one of the programs of the Center in which popular NBA players, rappers community activists talk to school children about the importance of developing a Plan B, in the event that their first career aspirations do not unfold. At 9:00 p.m. the Rapathon kicks off and continues for the next 24 hours into the following evening. A special prize will be awarded to one or more amateur rappers judged to have the right freestyle skills and stamina to take it all the way to wax, and A&R representatives from major U.S. recording labels will be present.

“The Rapathon will be a call-to-action for influential Hip Hop artists, local legislators, community leaders and brands to stand behind a movement for change,” states Curtis Sherrod, co-founder of The Global Artists Coalition. “This will be an historical moment in Hip Hop, the beginning of a new and serious dialogue… while giving the public a chance to witness their favorite performers kick a freestyle for charity.”

WORDS: Havelock Nelson

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