Houston Musicians Hit The Ground For Harvey Relief

In the wake of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey dumping biblical amounts of rain upon Greater Houston and beyond for several days, Houstonians have relied on one thing: themselves. Viral videos of first responders and ordinary citizens rescuing those stranded in vehicles or on rooftops, by air and by boat, have swamped social media in the past few days. It’s a great counter to the discussions from out-of-towners and those with negative agendas asking questions about a situation that doesn’t involve them.

Naturally, Houston’s musical class is made up of people first, citizens of our great city second. When it came time to spreading awareness for shelters, areas of refuge and more, musicians pitched in as best they could. Doughbeezy, Mr. Wired Up, Kirko Bangz, EDF and more have contributed by alerting fans around the area of those needing assistance as well as rescue. BeatKing had to rescue family who were stranded in Humble after the release of the reservoirs; DJ Mr. Rogers and Dice Soho have reached out via social media in regards to paying for hotel rooms for those displaced during the flood. Rogers took his efforts a step further as he joined Propain and actor/comedian “King” Keraun Harris to assist those stranded. Northside rapper Devante waded through chest high water to get a family to safety. Paul Wall has announced that a hurricane benefit and relief efforts are in the works. Adam Brackman, owner of popular Midtown haunt Axelrad, and Mark C. Austin of The Convoy Group went out rescuing people and drove them down to the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Bun B, who has been on a social-media hiatus for months, has launched a GoFundMe for those wishing to donate to a fundraiser set up by his wife, Queenie. The Trill Funds for victims of Harvey had an initial goal of $5,000. In nine hours, 32 people have nearly met the goal, chipping in anywhere from $5 to $3,000 from an anonymous donor.

We are planning some hurricane relief events right now. If you want to help in our hurricane relief contact protectchild1@yahoo.com #pap
— Paul Wall (@paulwallbaby) August 28, 2017

Anybody displaced from the flood that's in the Pearland area and is need of a hotel room and/or food tonight hit me and I'll take care of it
— DJ Mr. Rogers (@djmrrogers) August 28, 2017

If you're trying to volunteer in Houston, this how you can do it. A lot of spots have enough right now, but don't give up: https://t.co/N7YENHYO7s
— Kam Franklin (@KamFranklin) August 28, 2017

All the homies with clothing lines hit me.. trying to get these kids that lost everything in the flood fresh again for school
— LE$ (@SteakxShrimp) August 28, 2017

“Right now we need to save lives,” Bun told Mass Appeal. “We can’t get caught up in who’s to blame or any of that. We’ll have plenty of time to do that when this is over. But right now, we need to save lives. That’s the goal, that’s the game plan right there.”

I love how Houstonians are proud to help each other. We take pride in our hospitality & support towards each other.
— DJ Har V-Live (@DJAudiTory) August 28, 2017

Houston has always been a city of resiliency, as well as biting back whenever someone decides to offer an unnecessary opinion. Kam Franklin of The Suffers took her time to not only assist in relief efforts today off 610 East at the Houston boat launch, she went ahead and let every out-of-towner who questioned evacuating the city know why that was impossible.

Let me tell you motherfuckers that have never evacuated a MAJOR city during a hurricane. A mini thread for your bitch ass.
— Kam Franklin (@KamFranklin) August 27, 2017

Franklin’s “mini-thread” turned into all of the lemonade and tea necessary to get some Houstonians in a giddy, “I told you so” mood. Forbes penned an article Monday even citing the Dallas/Houston rivalry as reason why some Houstonians didn’t head north, though I pray that was a terrible joke. Without reposting all of Franklin’s vengeance and (justified) anger, the simple answer is this: the Hurricane Rita evacuations of 2005 weeks after Hurricane Katrina. Hundreds of people died in cars stranded on I-10, the elderly from heat exhaustion, a bus that caught on fire and more.

“I got to sit on a freeway for 23 hours. 23 HOURS!!!!” Franklin wrote of her day trying to get to San Antonio. “It’s easy to talk that shit when you’ve never been in this situation.”

Let it forever be said that there are no punks down here in Houston, Texas. Let it also be said that don’t ever talk about something you have zero clue or history about. Otherwise, Kam and the city will come for you. And you won’t like the result.