Local rapper JC Poppe hosts Hip-Hop Hates Multiple Sclerosis on Friday, April 30 at the Cactus Club.
The 9:30 p.m. gig in support of the Wisconsin Multiple Sclerosis Society includes performances by SPEAK Easy, Raze & A.P.R.I.M.E., Frankie Flowers and KingHellBastard.
The show will be DJed by Him & Her (Jank One and DJ Venus).
"I've been involved in raising money for MS on and off since high school," Poppe told me this morning.
"My mom has MS, and has had it as long as I can remember. I haven't done the walk in a while and after the success of the MS fundraiser I did at AJ Bombers a few months ago, I decided to get back into the walk.
"That sparked the idea of trying to get a benefit concert together, and once I started talking about it with some people I realized that there were enough people willing to help make it happen, so I had to do it."
Admission is $5 and the show is sponsored by WMSE and Pabst.
Sunday, May 2 is the "Walk MS" event at the Summerfest grounds. For details and registration, click here.
Read our February interview with Poppe here.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
