Recap: Inside HHPH's 'Remixing Public Health' Gala In NYC

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Hip Hop Public Health's 2023 Remixing Public Health Gala

Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty

“To me, hip-hop has always been the vehicle that we needed to use for health, education — everything!”

—Doug E. Fresh, rap icon and co-founder of Hip-Hop Public Health

Happy Hip-Hop History Month, hip-hop heads!

While 2023 has been a yearlong celebration of the genre’s 50th anniversary, aptly branded as “Hip-Hop 50” across all platforms, November is the national celebration of hip-hop that’s occurred annually since Congress made things official back in 2021. Think of it as “Hip-Hop 50: The Remix!”

Speaking of remixing, we had the absolute delight of kicking off HHHM by way of HHPH — Hip-Hop Public Health to be exact, an organization founded by Columbia Presbyterian Hospital’s Chief of Neurology Dr. Olajide Williams and rap pioneer Doug E. Fresh. They hosted the annual “Remixing Public Health” Gala in New York City last night (November 1), which honored a few familiar faces and saw hundreds of attendees from all levels of health, wellness and hip-hop culture combined.

Before we get into the event recap, take a look below at how Hip-Hop Public Health gets the job done on a daily basis:

The gala, hosted at NYC’s oh-so-swanky venue CAPITALE, saw appearances from the likes of mainstay R&B sensation Ashanti and hip-hop vets Chuck D of Public Enemy, Ja Rule, Styles P of The LOX and Darryl McDaniels of Run-D.M.C. Among those being honored, including fellow rap icon and Cold Crush Brothers co-founder Easy A.D., Rule’s longtime road manager Artie Green and Nicole Pullen Ross of Goldman Sachs, was fan-favorite radio personality Angela Yee for her work in providing healthy juicing options in Brooklyn by way of her company, Juices For Life BK.

On what it means to be healthy in hip-hop, Yee told us exclusively, “I feel like a lot of the artists have been a lot more open about their own health issues, and so I think it’s important for us to have those conversations. Some people would say, ‘Oh, I’m just an artist; I’m not a role model.’ The truth is, you can have a really huge impact on people who look up to you, people who listen to you and people who follow you. I think it’s important for artists to understand the responsibility they have because, as we can see, there’s a lot of things that can make us feel like the government and authorities don’t care about us. We have to care about ourselves and each other.”

Doug E. Fresh echoed those sentiments and added even more emphasis from his own experience as a rap icon that takes health seriously, explaining his involvement in HHPH by telling us, “My beautiful brother Dr. Williams came to me and started telling me about how many of us are having strokes, high blood pressure, diabetes and childhood obesity. I’ve always been into health, so I was like, ‘We have to stop this!’ I have a platform, so I’m going to use this platform to help our brothers, sisters and anybody that’s willing to listen. To me, hip-hop has always been the vehicle that we needed to use for health, education — everything! I know that if we use it in the right way, we can change the world the same way we did with hip-hop itself. It’s a multibillion-dollar business, so why can’t we use it to change the conditions of so many people’s health issues?”

Janell Snowden, the beautiful host of the night that literally shined every time she touched the stage to speak, brought the ethos of HHPH full circle when we got a chance to catch up with her in-between hors d’oeuvres, stating, “Hip-hop is the most influential genre of music in the world, and if it can be used in an inspirational and educational way, to reach young people where they are and inspire them to live healthier lifestyles, that in and of itself is a success for us. Hip-Hop Public Health’s tagline is ‘Hip-Hop Public Health uses science, rhythm and rhyme to teach kids and their families healthy information to help everybody live a long time.’ That’s the goal! In the Black and Brown communities, we suffer so disproportionately from so many illnesses, and most of it is because of ignorance. It’s not like, ‘Oh, well, my mom has diabetes so I do too.’ A lot of times, what happens is that we inherit behaviors that cause us to have these ailments. If we can learn at a young age how to eat better, exercise more, stress less and just generally be healthier, we can all live longer, happier lives. That’s always the goal.”

Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty