Girl About Town: ETHEL CEE Presents SPREAD, A Benefit for The Philly AIDS Fund

Girl About Town spoke with emcee Ethel Cee this afternoon in a quick chat over email regarding a special homecoming event that should have Philly excited to support. From the young lady who is "Deftly combining drum'n'bass, house, and hip-hop and a resume getting longer by the minute, her rhymes about everything from love and loss to politics are sure to position her as the girl "who's got next" in the hip-hop/dance scene." Ethel Cee (real name, Kamilah Clarke) is the perfect person to throw this event together and put a group of starring individuals on stage in support and remembrance of an important cause: World AIDS Day which took place today, on December 1st, 2009. Come out in support of Ethel Cee's event: SPREAD, A Benefit for The Philly AIDS Fund which takes place at Marbar (above Marathon Grill on 40th and Walnut in Philadelphia) on Friday December 4th, 2009.

Girl About Town: What can you tell me about the Philly AIDS Fund and which services this fundraiser will help to provide?

Kamilah Clarke a.k.a. emcee Ethel Cee: This is directly from the website: "The Philly AIDS Fund, supports HIV/AIDS education, prevention, and services in the Delaware Valley by raising dollars and increasing public awareness about the impact of HIV on our communities. Currently, 30 partner organizations are receiving funding as a result of AIDS Fund’s activities to provide critical HIV prevention education and care services." I couldn’t word it any better if I tried! All the proceeds from my event will go to the Philly AIDS Fund. From there, we will discuss how the money will be allocated. I’m looking forward to giving the majority of it to a program servicing Black women, since it is that demographic that is being infected at the highest rate right now. Being a Black female, myself…it just hits home.

How long have you been organizing events and which of your past events stand out to you?

Honestly, this is the first event that I have put on myself in YEARS. I am an emcee, so I’ve performed at countless venues and hosted several parties in Philadelphia throughout the years. It’s hard to pick a fave, but I will say that it is nice to see party-type events with a philanthropic agenda. Stacey “Flygirrl” Wilson does an event called “Dancing in the Streets” centered around National HIV Testing Day in June. It’s an outside event that features vendors, DJs, and mobile testing. That’s the way to do it. You pull people in with fun in the sun and music or booze and then once you reel them in it’s like, “So…have you and/or your partner been tested for HIV?” LOL. But I have several friends who are party promoters and it’s been quite an educating experience watching the ups and downs of being in charge of something such as this.

What is your advice for women who are trying to break into event planning when it comes to music?

For any event, you must know who your target audience is. That will help you prioritize when and where you should promote. Stand your ground and be aggressive if need be, but not bitchy. People will sometimes try to walk all over you or take advantage of a good thing, but stay professional and don’t burn bridges if you can. Also, it helps having a network of friends who are willing to help you get the word out and co-sign what it is you are doing. I owe the pre-hyped success of SPREAD to everyone that offered to contribute.

How has planning this event inspired you, and what can you tell us about the artists and people involved?

Planning this event has helped me see the truth in the saying, “ A closed mouth doesn’t get fed.” I would have never imagined I could get all these incredible artists on the same stage for a cause like this. I started to not ask some of them, but something just said to go for it. I consider many of them to be good friends of mine or even solid colleagues, but in my mind that didn’t equate to “Yeah, they will DEFINITELY do this.” Bahamadia and DJ Statik doing the show is a total blessing. They’ve traveled and toured all over the world and back and have an amazing history in music. It really speaks to the cause and how it important it is that I could get an act like them, like Invincible (who heard about the show in Detriot and offered to perform while in town), like Hustle Simmons (an act with some of the biggest buzz in Philly right now), like Tuphace (a guy who has had ENORMOUS success over the years and has a huge fan base in every scene of music ), Zap & Castro (two very talented emcees that were so eager to be a part of this in anyway that they could), Ultraviolet and Afrodjiak (two DJs who I know are going to get the crowd going and keep the event upbeat), then Flygirrl (a woman who is no stranger to event planning/party promoting) is sharing her art with us live throughout the night. Not to mention all the sponsors that are helping get the word out. I’ve said all that there is to say; everyone involved is amazing, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how available they have made themselves to helping SPREAD be a success.