Space 550 cancels Short/Quinn/4-Tay benefit concert

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Da Yayologist

Da Yayologist

Sicc OG
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Jun 5, 2002
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/26/DDS01KRVGD.DTL

Space550 nightclub won't host rap benefit for girl

Peter Hartlaub, Chronicle Pop Culture Critic
San Francisco Chronicle August 26, 2011

When toddler Juliana Pena contracted neuroblastoma cancer in April, her Fed Ex truck driver father had to quit work. Some local rappers found out about it and have organized a fundraiser for Sept. 2. The benefit and awareness campaign for the South San Francisco girl keeps getting bigger, and now includes 15 local hip-hop stars, including local rap pioneers Too Short, San Quinn and Rappin' 4-Tay.

The operator of a San Francisco nightclub said that the Labor Day Shakedown, a benefit concert featuring Bay Area rappers, will not be happening at his venue.

Fifteen rappers, including Oakland's Too Short, were expected to perform next Friday at Space550, using some proceeds to help Juliana Peña, a South San Francisco 2-year-old who is fighting the rare cancer neuroblastoma. But an attorney for Space550 said the contract for the event was signed by a former manager without the owner's consent.

"It's an unfortunate situation," said Mark Rennie, an attorney for the Bayview nightclub. "The first time we even knew about the concert, someone was calling up to buy tickets to the Too Short concert. We said, 'What Too Short concert?' "

CoBlooded the Great, an organizer who was performing at the event, said this week that he had a signed contract with the club and stands to lose $15,000 or more if the event doesn't go forward. On Wednesday, he said through a publicist that he's still working on a solution and hopes the benefit for Juliana can go forward, possibly at another venue.

Rennie said a final decision has been made not to have the event at Space550 after consulting with police and the San Francisco Entertainment Commission. Club owners say the contract is void because the promoters didn't plan for security or secure liability insurance.

"We don't know which way is up, to be honest with you," Rennie said. "Everybody is of the opinion to just keep the club closed and see what the fallout is. (If people) file lawsuits, we'll just have to deal with it."
 
Da Yayologist

Da Yayologist

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Jun 5, 2002
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/25/DDUV1KR2U2.DTL

Rappers' benefit for Juliana Peña's cancer fight

Peter Hartlaub, Chronicle Pop Culture Critic
San Francisco Chronicle August 25, 2011

When toddler Juliana Pena contracted neuroblastoma cancer in April, her Fed Ex truck driver father had to quit work. Some local rappers found out about it and have organized a fundraiser for Sept. 2.

CoBlooded the Great says he never heard the word "neuroblastoma" before he talked to Jesus Peña in April. After calling to ask why he hadn't seen his childhood friend on the driver's FedEx route, he learned that Peña's only daughter, 2-year-old Juliana, had the rare and aggressive form of cancer.

"I paused on the phone. I had just seen that girl, running around and yelling, 'Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!' She's got cancer?" CoBlooded remembers. "It touched me, and it struck me. I felt like I had to do something. There's this disease and it attacks kids, and people don't know about it."

CoBlooded was the first of several local rappers to rally behind the cause. Since then, a roll call of old school Bay Area rap stars have sent well wishes or pledged support to the South San Francisco girl. , A group of 15 artists including Too , San Quinn and Rappin 4-Tay had planned to perform at a benefit for Juliana's care - although it remains in doubt after a lawyer for the venue said on Wednesday that the nightclub won't be hosting the event.

"I asked (CoBlooded), 'All them know?' " Peña recalls. "He said, 'They all got kids and they all understand. They understand what's going on here.' "

Neuroblastoma affects about 650 of the millions of children born in the United States each year. Juliana was diagnosed in Stage 3 of the disease, and is entering the fifth month of aggressive treatment that will last at least nine more months.

On a recent afternoon at her home, just below the "Industrial City" sign in South San Francisco, Juliana has more positive energy than most cancer-free toddlers. She has a tube in her nose and two more attached to her chest. It's clear which family photos were taken before and after the diagnosis - by the presence or absence of Juliana's curly locks. But she's smiling in all of them.

"She is a fighter," Peña says. "If she wasn't fighting so hard, we wouldn't be able to hold it together."

Peña has "Juliana, My Hero" tattooed on his arm, surrounding her favorite cartoon character, Perry the Platypus. There's a board on the wall with eight drugs the girl takes, some of them multiple times per day.

"She's so smart. I just can't believe how much she has to grow up so fast," Juliana's mother, Patricia Watson, says. "She does her baby stuff, but I'll come with her medicine and she'll say, 'Medicine time!' "

Peña and Watson, who lost a son during childbirth several years ago, noticed Juliana acting differently in late March. Doctors found an enormous mass in Juliana's midsection. One of her kidneys was down to 10 percent function, and her blood pressure was so high that the machine couldn't get a reading. The toddler was rushed from Kaiser in San Francisco to Oakland by ambulance, and five days later started chemotherapy.

Juliana's strength has touched the local rap community, which has grown up with the times. During a recent visit to Juliana and her parents, San Quinn pointed out that it was his own daughter's birthday, and he was about to pick up his son from elementary school a few blocks away.

"When you've got kids, something like this definitely touches you," says the popular Fillmore-area rapper, watching the worn-out toddler sleep peacefully. "Look at what she's going through. It's just humbling. Without a doubt."

San Quinn was scheduled to perform with Too and the others on Sept. 2 at Space550 in San Francisco, but a lawyer for the club said on Wednesday that the event was planned by a former Space550 manager without the owner's consent. Attorney Mark Rennie said the club is sympathetic to Juliana and tried to help find another space, but he said the organizers didn't plan for adequate security or secure liability insurance. On Wednesday, CoBlooded the Great said through a publicist that he's still working on a solution and hopes the benefit can go forward, possibly at another venue.

CoBlooded says the benefit was planned to help the family pay their bills - Peña is on stress leave from his job - but they also want to educate the community, both about neuroblastoma and the importance of early diagnosis. Among other video and text well wishes to Juliana, more than one of the rappers has added a neuroblastoma information link to his Facebook page.

"Parents got to step the game up with these doctors, and make sure you're getting what you paid for," CoBlooded says. "If you know in your heart that something's wrong, you got to stick with it and make sure it's done. Get on top of it right then and there."

Peña says his family is still in shock from all the attention.

"Knowing that people you listened to and heard about growing up in the Bay Area are fighting for this cause. It's like 'wow.' I don't have words," he says. "People should know that rap artists aren't all about violence and shooting. Look what they can do."
 
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