As cultural institutions and the arts strive to play a new role in a period of coronavirus epidemics, one element has been particularly resistant.

In the Americas alone, the coronavirus pandemic left 30 million people unemployed. Facilities are closed (for the most part) and people need help. Hip-hop artists such as Cardi B, Kanye West, Eminem, Jay Z, Meek Mill, and DJ Khaled have organized fundraisers, donations and other good deeds to help those in need.

Some of these initiatives include

Cardi B. may have been skeptical about the coronavirus when she arrived in the United States, but she continues to give back: in April, she donated 20,000 bottles of OWYN Beverage, an herbal supplement, to a local health care professional in New York City. Later that month, the Bronx rapper joined the #FashionNovaCARES initiative of fashion brand FashionNova, distributing $1 million ($1,000 per hour) to people affected by the pandemic through May 20. They also donated the proceeds from iMarkkeyz's (which I loved) only "coronavirus" to the relief effort.

Eminem mentioned two of his greatest successes in his relief efforts: a week ago, his Marshall Mathers Foundation joined the Detroit Union Joins catering service to distribute bottles of "Mother Spaghetti" to health care workers on the front lines of the crisis. Spaghetti refers to the famous phrase from his song "Lose Yourself". He also auctioned off his Jordan 4 Retro Eminem Carhart sneakers, which he donated to the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. When she announced her Instagram efforts, she said she was "cleaning out my closet".

Drake contributed to #AllInChallenge. He invites celebrities to participate in an auction of items that support charities such as Feeding America, Meals On Wheels, World Central Kitchen, and No Kid Hungry. The Toronto rapper offered the lucky bidder a festive weekend package including VIP treatment at Delilah's nightclub in Los Angeles and access to a private jet.

In April, Kanye West teamed up with We Women Empowered and The Dream Center to donate thousands of meals to affected families in her hometown of Chicago and now in Los Angeles. Josephine Wade of We Women Empowered told Access Online, "Today when Kanye West was approached to help seniors in Chicago and chose her old neighborhood on the south side of the city, her hometown, she went beyond words.

The reason Kodak Black is currently incarcerated is that the U.S. prison population is going through hell during the pandemic. But the controversial young artist is responding: in March 2020, he donated books and essential school supplies to more than 600 students in his hometown of Broward County.

There are many other artists trying to help in their own way. These are just a few listed here.

Collab by E105 & ExReed

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