MUSIC FOR HOPE benefit concert rocks out

Student-founded organization HOPE Center Uganda is hosting the first ever Music For Hope charity concert tonight at Local 506.

The concert lineup includes UNC student jam band Milky B. Rips, student DJ duo Wikki Wikki and rap artist Well$.

The event will benefit HOPE Center Uganda, a nonprofit founded by UNC seniors Jamie Stuart, who also writes for The Daily Tar Heel, and Ella Simmons after they arrived at a Campus Y-sponsored internship in Uganda. They provide English, technology and art classes as well as a nurturing environment for the children of Gulu, Uganda.

Simmons said she hopes the event will show the impact that just two students can have on the world.

“We were both 19 in Uganda and saw a need for resources for kids in the area and really did something about it,” Simmons said. “I hope that the concert shows people who we are and how we started.”

Doors for the event open at 8 p.m. and Milky B. Rips will be starting off the night’s music with their jam-soul tunes. The band is made up of UNC students Brennan Beck, Joe May, Jake Austin, Stephen Folwell and Owen Levy.

May, who plays keyboard and drums for the band, said the band’s love of performing combined with Stuart and Simmons’ passion for the organization made them want to be part of the event.

“The passion they have for it and the degree of time and effort they are willing to put into it really drove us,” May said.

Beck, the band’s lead vocalist, said the event should be a great way for students and members of the community to enjoy three different local artists while raising money for a nonprofit organization. He stressed the musical variety that Music For Hope will be providing for such a good price.

“There are three different, great musical groups that will be performing and it is for a good cause,” he said. “It’s all going to be there and it’s all for charity. Whatever you like, you name it, we’re going to bring it.”

The party continues at 10:30 p.m. when Stuart and Natalie Hoberman’s girl power DJ duo, Wikki Wikki, takes the stage. The girls said they started spinning tunes about a year ago when Stuart took a DJ class.

“Whenever I was at a party, I was the girl that always needed to have the aux cord in her hands,” Hoberman said. “So, when Jamie asked me to be her partner, I had to say yes. We started by playing at a pregame and once we got good feedback, it all just snowballed really quickly.”

The final performer of the night, Well$, just recently finished touring with artist Anderson .Paak in South Korea. His rap and hip-hop originals should be an exciting finale.

Music For Hope is the first of what the organization hopes to be a series of benefit nights showcasing a wide range of artists in different Chapel Hill locations to raise money for HOPE Center Uganda.

swerve@dailytarheel.com