Loco Dice is living proof of the difference that youth centers can make in the lives of struggling adolescents. Today, he’s a house head favorite blending hip-hop style with underground depth that makes crowds go ape and runs Desolate records, but when he was a boy in Germany, he was just looking for a chance to express himself.
A youth center gave him the opportunity to learn and grow into the success he is today. When non-profit Bridges for Music asked him to back its efforts to support South Africa’s Kliptown Youth Center, the answer was obvious.
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“The Kliptown Youth Center is a heart-felt issue, which really moved and inspired me,” he says on the Youth Center’s fundraising site. “I feel my African roots, and I remember how important a local youth center in my hometown Düsseldorf was for me. There is music in the Kliptown Youth Center and there are kids who otherwise might not have a chance to create and express themselves.”
Founded in 1987, the Kliptown Youth Center provides tutoring, athletic, and arts programs to children of Kliptown who refuse to be “defined by survival.” Loco Dice is throwing his weight behind the fund raising effort, and those of you willing to give can donate online.