Wyclef Jean: In Schools and In-stores, Award Winning, Memoir Writing

Wyclef Jean Participates in VILLA's Big Serve Community Initiative

Wyclef Jean has been staying busy in addition to releasing From The Hut, To The Projects, To The Mansion with DJ Drama.

He's making school appearances with VILLA, Timberland and NBA Cares as shown above.

He and Bono will soon receive the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights 2009 Ripple of Hope Award.

Plus, Wyclef is making an in-store appearance at Jimmy Jazz to support the Timberland Earthkeepers Yéle Haiti Collection, working with Western Union on their Random Acts of Giving campaign and, sooner or later, getting started on his memoirs.

Available on iTunes: Wyclef Jean

Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Wyclef Jean & DJ Drama: From The Hut, To The Projects, To The Mansion
Wyclef Jean: If I Were President

Nonprofits: Master P x ONEMILLIONGIFTS.org, Hip-Hop Summit x Walmart, Ludacris x Leadership in Philanthropy

• P. Miller A.K.A. Master P Teams Up with ONEMILLIONGIFTS.ORG to Help One Million Families During the Holiday Season

• National Hip-Hop Summit and Walmart Host 'Get Your Money Right' in Houston

• Grammy Award-Winning Musician and Actor Ludacris to Call For Leadership in Philanthropy at National Press Club Luncheon
  

  
  

Good Looks: DMX, Wyclef Jean x Timberland, MC Hammer x Cash4Gold, KABA Modern, Won-G

• American Charities Unites with Hip Hop Icon DMX
  

• Grammy Award-Winning Musician and Humanitarian Wyclef Jean
  Partners With The Timberland Company

• MC Hammer and Cash4Gold Provide Emergency Aid Following
  Series of Devastating Natural Disasters

• Asian American Stars, Including KevJumba and KABA Modern,
  to Unite for 'B HERE' Campaign Monday, October 5

• Entrepreneur, Rapper Won-G Partners With 'Dome' Foundation

Ice-T, Chrisette Michele & LG Mobile for VH1 Save The Music Foundation

Ice-T at the City College Academy of the Arts

Ice-T and Chrisette Michele recently appeared at a public school event in New York at the City College Academy of the Arts to kick off a "one-year, multi-faceted partnership to promote the importance of music education" by LG Mobile Phones and the VH1 Save The Music Foundation.

Chrisette Michel at the City College Academy of the Arts

Official Sites:
LG: Save the Music
VH1 Save The Music

Ford Sponsors GRAMMY In The Schools Program

Pamela Alexander, Neil Portnow & 1956 Ford Thunderbird

Ford Motor Company is awarding grants for the GRAMMY in the Schools program:

"The support from the community relations arm of Ford Motor Company will go toward three GRAMMY in the Schools programs: GRAMMY Signature Schools, which helps financially challenged schools offer music programs for students; GRAMMY Career Day, which helps high school students gain insights into music industry careers; and GRAMMY Camp Scholarships, a residential summer program that offers high school students an interactive music experience focusing on all aspects of commercial music."

Promo Photo Backstory:

"Pictured is the perfectly restored 1956 Ford Thunderbird that Neil Diamond donated to the 2009 Grammy Foundation Charity Auction that was purchased by Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow. Portnow drove it to work for this publicity photo with Pamela Alexander, Director of Community Development, Ford Motor Company Fund."

Offical Sites:
GRAMMY in the Schools
Ford Motor Company Fund

[Photo: Coverup Productions]

Plies Establishes Foundation & Scholarship Fund

Plies recently announced the establishment of the nonprofit Big Gates and Plies Power Of Visions Foundation, Inc.:

"The organization's first effort will be the "Somebody Loves You" Scholarship Fund 2008 (named after the song "Somebody (Loves You)" from his current album), which is designed specifically for students attending an accredited college or university, who have a parent(s) that is presently incarcerated and who is financially disadvantaged. The scholarship is open to students who are currently enrolled or who will be entering school this fall. Two scholarships will be awarded to one male and one female in the amount of $5000 each."

Application information:
"Somebody Loves You" Scholarship Fund

Rev Run: Kool-Aid/KaBOOM!, Icon Sneaker

Rev Run is the new brand ambassador for the Kool-Aid/KaBOOM! playground project:

Over the next year, Kool-Aid and KaBOOM! will build 24 playgrounds in cities around the country, provide grants toward building 20 more, and work with local communities, parents and children to encourage healthier and more active lifestyles...

Joseph Simmons (a.k.a. Reverend Run)...will serve as the new brand ambassador for the Kool-Aid KaBOOM! initiative. He and his family will don hard hats and wield shovels as they join the brand on local community build sites. Additionally, Kool-Aid will include Reverend Run in POS displays and other promotions, and he will speak directly to consumers about healthy lifestyle choices and the benefits of play.

To be honest, I don't associate the "benefits of play" with Rev Run.  I mean, see how happy he is about his new Icon sneaker?

But play is important in young people's live and adults could benefit from rediscovering play themselves.

And maybe getting into a playful spirit explains that whole Pimp Von Dracula routine.  It's like Halloween every time he does a show! 

Official Site:
KaBOOM!

AIDS/HIV Awareness: Common's Lyric Contest, Who's F**kin' Wit' Us, HHEAL Fest

Grammy Winner Common, MTV, and Kaiser Family Foundation Launch Lyrics Contest to Promote HIV Testing

In terms of big stars who chart, Common continues to top the list of those who give something back to a world that has given them so much.

Who's F**kin' Wit' Us

Sound Bar Recordings and the New York Department of Health are partnering on the Who's F**kin' Wit' Us which sounds like a positive educational project.  Hopefully the ambiguity of the project's title will be resolved by the graphics.

HHEAL Fest: Hip-Hop Educates and Advances Lives!

The Hip-Hop Association, Social Services of Hip Hop, We Got Issues! and the Afro-Latin Project are teaming up for HHEAL Fest, a "three-day celebration with interactive workshops, panels, film screenings, and performances that will focus on Hip-Hop as a tool for education, immigrant history, media literacy, life skills and youth empowerment."

Tupper-Bowl: Ice-T & Coco Throw Tupperware Party

Coco & Ice-T at the Tupper-bowl

Earlier this week, Ice-T and his wife Coco threw the Tupper-bowl, a Tupperware party intended to benefit the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club of America:

"The party was held in a private lounge at Jay-Z's 40/40 club in New York and was the place to see and be seen. Over 200 guests were in attendance and celebrity highlights included: Oscar-winner, Tatum O'Neal; Sex and the City star, Chris Noth; Law and Order SVU stars Adam Beach and B.D. Wong; Frank Whaley from The Wire, and NBA players Vince Carter of the New Jersey Nets and Jason Williams of the Miami Heat."

Ice-T & Tatum O'Neal at the Tupper-bowl

The press release quotes are hilarious:

""Tupperware unites us all. Tupperware's going to save the world," proclaimed party host, Ice-T..."

Plus, the party sounds fun:

"Guests enjoyed "Tuppertini" cocktails and "bowl-food" themed hors d'oeuvres served in Tupperware, and danced to music provided by celebrity DJ, D-Nice. The crowd was treated to impromptu performances by Ice-T and renowned hip-hop legends such as Positive K, Smoothe Da Hustler, Khrist, Grandmaster Caz, Kool Herc, and Melly Mel."

ProHipHop Note:
I was actually more excited about this news when I thought Coco and Ice-T were becoming Tupperware reps.  But I'm funny like that.

Press Release:
Law & Order: SVU Star Ice-T Hosts 'Tupper-Bowl' Party

DMC, Rhymefest, Dres, Killer Mike, Malik Yusef & DA Smart Join HipHop vs. The World

Poster for HipHop vs. The World

HipHop vs. The World is a concert featuring a variety of hip hop artists that is part of a larger weekend kicking off the 'R' Literacy Campaign:

a city wide book club that will start with youth detained at Cook County's Juvenile Detention Center, seeks to encourage literacy and reading; engage dialogue; and decrease the rate of recidivism among youth offenders in the juvenile justice system. Weekly teach-ins and discussions will be lead by educators, authors, artists, advocates, and other volunteers.

Ludacris at the 46664 Concert on Worlds Aids Day

Ludacris & Annie Lenox at 46664 Concert

Ludacris joined a bunch of folks at the 46664 World Aids Day Concert December 1st in Johannesburg, South Africa.

More background on the 46664 concerts and the origin of the name at Wikipedia:

46664 is the prisoner number of Nelson Mandela from his imprisonment in 1964 to his release in 1990, and the title used for a series of AIDS charity concerts (the motto: "Aids is not a disease it is a human rights issue"). Mandela is sometimes referred to, reverently, as prisoner 46664; the Nelson Mandela Foundation is located at the website address 46664.com. The number was assigned because Mandela was the 466th prisoner to come to Robben Island in 1964.

Common Ground Foundation to Support Urban Youth

Common has [re]launched the Common Ground Foundation with Jodie Blum as Executive Director:
The foundation will be overseen by Executive Director Jodie Blum, and is dedicated to the empowerment and development of urban youth through education...

Additionally, The Common Ground Foundation supports and focuses on AIDS/HIV prevention programs targeted towards youth and young adults, reaching beyond our national borders to serve communities throughout Africa.

A quick look at the Common Ground Foundation website reveals some serious looking community programs plus additional interests in Katrina relief.

This looks solid and it appears that the programs were already in motion and this is the next step organizationally or that a lot of planning and development occurred in the buildup to this announcement.  Either way it's a great start.

Update:
The Common Ground Foundation has been around for awhile and I have no idea why they're not calling it a relaunch.  For example, here's an event they did in 2005.

Piaget's Ludacris Fingerprint Timepiece Auction Benefits National Runaway Switchboard

Modeling the Ludacris Fingerprint Timepiece by Piaget

Piaget has created the Ludacris Fingerprint Timepiece, valued at $28k, featuring Luda's fingerprint in the design.  The watch is on auction at the National Runaway Switchboard and all proceeds will benefit the Switchboard, the "federally-designated national communication system for homeless and runaway youth".

Ludacris' previous support of runaways includes the single Runaway Love featuring Mary J. Blige which would be even more effective if Universal allowed embedding of this video.

Atlanta Rapper Sean P. Supports H.E.A.T.

Sean P. Gives Big Check to H.E.A.T.'s Staci Bush

Atlanta rapper Sean P., formerly Sean Paul of The YoungBloodz, recently contributed to the Heating Energy Assistance Team or H.E.A.T., an organization that helps impoverished Georgians with their energy needs.  He is also encouraging other entertainers to support this organization.

Official Site:
Heating Energy Assistance Team

Snoop Dogg Contributes Exotic Erotic Fee to Healing Circle

Snoop Dogg Contributes to The Healing Circle

[Photo L to R: JT The Bigga Figga, Sheila Burton, Mattie Scott, Snoop Dogg and Judy Hughes.]

Snoop Dogg has contributed his $45,000 performance deposit for a scheduled appearance at the Exotic Erotic Ball to The Healing Circle:
Snoop Dogg will perform live at a benefit concert at the Cow Palace on Friday evening, October 26, 2007, during the hours of the Exotic Erotic Expo. The Ball's initial $45,000 deposit for Snoop's services was committed to The Healing Circle in a personal presentation made by Snoop on August 12, 2007.

Additional funds for the Healing Circle will be raised when Snoop Dogg performs live on Friday, and then returns Saturday night at the Ball, where he will join Tera Patrick and Danny Bonaduce as judges of the Ball's World Famous Costume Contests.

Also from the release:
The primary mission of The Healing Circle Soul Support Group is to promote sharing, healing, education, and action for survivors of homicide and victims of inner city violence.