A fledgling nonprofit is planning to bring to town noted musical artists Doug E. Fresh and MC Lyte for its “50 Years of Hip-Hop Celebration Concert” later this month. Noted Tallahassee-born entertainer T-Pain also is expected to attend and be honored at the event.
Doug E. Fresh, a popular rapper in the ’80s is known for hits like “Keep Risin’ to the Top” and MC Lyte is the first female solo rapper to be nominated for a Grammy.
But the focus won’t solely be on partying, stage presence and entertainment.
A key component is using the entertainers’ art of mastering magical rhymes and celebratory status to address a much bigger issue in Tallahassee: how to deter the gun violence that is plaguing the capital city.
The event is the brainchild of the North Florida Community Development Corporation, reinvigorated in July 2022 as a nonprofit organization that will be focusing on issues such as providing grocery kiosks in neighborhoods considered food deserts, as well as seeding a program aimed at deterring gun violence called Empower Tally.
The free concert, planned for 6 p.m. on Nov. 10 at the Adderley Amphitheater at Cascades Park, serves as the launch of the nonprofit’s first endeavor. In fact, it’s the organization’s first ever public event and it’s being produced with the help of county and city money or in-kind services.
“Our community has had immense gun violence with our youth, and we want to present a positive experience,” said Laurise Thomas, executive director of North Florida Community Development Corporation. “We will provide an opportunity for Gen X and Tik-Tokers to write a rap about stopping the gun violence and will allow them to perform that night.”
As of Wednesday, there have been 80 serious shooting incidents reported this year in Leon County. So far this year, 20 people have died in shootings and at least 68 people have been injured, according to a Tallahassee Democrat analysis of gun violence.
What is the North Florida Community Development Corporation?
NFCDC’s mission is to “deliver intentional and innovative programs and resources that address the root causes of poverty in the North Florida area,” according to its website.
The website provides few details about the organization.
“We are actually an affiliate of Al’s Community Business Services, which has been in business for 28 years and is the oldest Black accounting firm,” Reshaye Greenlee, president of North Florida Community Development Corporation, told the Tallahassee Democrat. “So, we’ve had a great deal of impact on businesses and assisting individuals with technical assistance.”
The website for Community Business Services, describes it as a tax preparation business located at 1211 W. Tharpe St. It has been in business since 1968 and owned by Al Smith.
Smith declined to comment on his business’s affiliation with the nonprofit, but added, “I think this will be a great event for Tallahassee.”
Sha’Ron James, a governmental affairs lobbyist, entrepreneur, former chair of the Tallahassee-Leon County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls and co-founder of NFCDC, provided more context about the nonprofit’s origins.
“Reshaye and I both realized that there were gaps in resources to the underserved communities particularly,” James said. “So, I brought the resources of my company, Impact Foods, and Reshaye and Mr. Al brought together the resources of Al’s Community Business Services to create NFCDC.”
Leon County approves funding — with some qualms
The organization has raised more than half of its $125,000 budget for the concert from individual sponsors such as Tremont Concrete Construction, Healing by Nature Senior Care, LLC., and the Leon County Health Department, but with costs for the entertainers alone exceeding $85,000, the non-profit last month reached out to county and city commissions for $25,000 sponsorships each, Greenlee said.
Leon County commissioners during a special meeting on October 24 heard the organization’s request for $25,000 as one of the agenda items. The request was added because the next regularly scheduled commission meeting would be after the concert date.
County Commissioner Bill Proctor made a motion to approve the sponsorship request in the amount of $25,000 from the county’s general contingency fund. The motion was seconded by the commission’s vice chair Carolyn Cummings.
“This is exciting and stimulating,” Proctor told his colleagues. “It celebrates the culture and all of those who celebrated in a different era. I trust this is a safe motion that will lend itself to the support of commissioners.”
Cummings echoed those statements, saying she respects the effort to expand preventative measures of gun violence in Tallahassee.
“In my opinion, if one young person can be impressed upon and saved during this particular festival, I think it’s a worthwhile investment,” Cummings said.
Commissioners voted 6-0 to support the request, with commissioner Brian Welch out of chambers at the time.
But the unanimous vote was not without discussion over its merits.
Commissioner Christian Caban said the county’s youth should look to role models such as Proctor and commission chairman Nick Maddox, and not celebrated rapper-entertainer and investor, T-Pain.
“I think when we talk about role models in our community, I think we’re setting the bar really low,” Caban said of T-Pain, a native of Tallahassee where his career was launched as a teenager. “I listened to T-Pain growing up, and I know some of those lyrics and I don’t think some of those lyrics are going to positively influence kids in our community.”
Caban eventually went along on the affirmative vote. The county’s $25,000 will go toward radio and social media ads for the event, a monetary prize for the rap contest winner, and costs associated with the featured artists.
Darius “Doc” Baker, who is the founder and music director of the wildly popular Tallahassee Nights Life, says he believes the concert could potentially reach young people.
“I’m a part of this because I believe in it, and I know the problems that we face with our youth,” Baker told county commissioners. “When you look at T-Pain, who has sold 15 million albums and 50 million down streams, I think that we should allow him to actually feed into our youth. They look up to him.”
Greenlee told the Tallahassee Democrat Wednesday contracts for performances by Doug E. Fresh and MC Lyte have been signed, but no performance contract has been signed for T-Pain, who is expected to attend the event.
City goes in with in-kind services
After meeting with county commissioners, Thomas and Baker made their plea to city commissioners the next day.
Last year, Mayor John Dailey and city commissioners took action to fund initiatives aimed at reducing gun violence in the community. The commission voted to allocate $1 million each year for the next five years to stem a surge of shootings in the city.
In response to the request from Thomas and Baker for $25,000, Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox instead made a motion to provide in-kind services for the event at no cost to the organizers. It was seconded by Commissioner Curtis Richardson.
In a unanimous 5-0 vote, city commissioners agreed to waive the fee to use Cascades Park, provide sanitation services before and after the concert, road closures and barricades, and marketing assistance to promote the event.
Since that commitment, concert organizers on Tuesday changed the venue to the Adderley Amphitheater at Cascades Park to better accommodate the expected crowd.
City staff is recommending in-kind services valued at $19,500, in addition to $5,500 cash from the Gun Violence Intervention Funding. Commissioners will discuss the specifics of the cost of the in-kind services at its meeting at 3p.m., Nov. 8, two days before the concert.
At that same meeting, commissioners also are expected to follow up on a proposal by Williams-Cox to honor T-Pain, whose original name is Faheem Najm, by having a marker erected in his honor at Ridge Road and Crawfordville Highway, where he grew up with his family.
Williams-Cox said she is in full support of the concert with its mission to address reducing gun violence, while also honoring a Tallahassee legend.
“I had the honor of knowing T-Pain before he was T-Pain,” Williams-Cox said. “So, I think that as a city we should give honor where honor is due, and I am asking my colleagues to support this event wholeheartedly.”
The rap contest will have up to three winners, who will have the chance to collaborate on a song in the studio. Interested participants can submit their rap lyrics to docd@tnlperformingarts.org. The deadline is next week.
Democrat Writer Mikiyah Everett can be reached at Meverett@gannett.com
