Friday night at Gramercy Theater in New York, all-volunteer organization Girls Who Rock hosted a fund raising concert for She’s the First, an organization which, among other things, aims to raise enough money to fund a year of education for 42 girls at Uganda’s Arlington Academy of Hope.
Emceed by Touré, the host of the Fuse shows the Hiphop Shop and On the Record and longtime Rolling Stone contributing editor, the concert kicked off around 8:30PM Friday night. Featured artists included Nina Sky, Nikki Jean, Eddy, KimberlyNichole, DJ Kiss, special guest Data the Robot who, programmed by Heather Night, gave a comedic stand up routine, and headliner Jojo.
The last time we wrote about Jojo was in 2004 when, at 13, she debuted her single, Leave. We wrote Jojo, Joanna Levesque, would be the next big thing. Seems that’s actually happened. Jojo was the youngest solo artist ever to have a number one single and the youngest ever to have been nominated for an MTV Music Awards Best New Artist.
At the concert, Jojo debuted Jumping Trains, the title track of her third album. We have to say, the girl can sing. She’s a solid performer and an eloquent speaker. During her performance, Jojo made an encouraging plea to the audience to aid the plight of young girls in Uganda and the world over who have difficulty getting a proper education.
Jojo also performed the favorite, Boy Without a Heart.
Of Girls Who Rock’s participation with Internet Week, Internet Week Chairman David-Michel Davies said, “We’re thrilled to see Girls Who Rock return to Internet Week after successfully launching at last year’s festival, Girls Who Rock is an excellent example of how musicians and techies can come together for an important cause.”
Arlington Academy of Hope Founder John Wanda was on hand to show his appreciation of the Girls Who Rock effort and, in a moving plea from the stage, shared with the audience the difficulties young girls in Uganda face. It was one of those moments when you realize that, despite what you might perceive to be difficulties in your own life, your life is just fine compared to the many other less fortunate people around the globe.
Check out the photo gallery of the concert here.
