Northwest Concert Promoter Murdered


Out of high school, I worked briefly for a hip-hop magazine put out by the music promotion company Seaspot.com. One of the concert promoters I knew there was murdered recently:

In a neighborhood that had seemingly grown immune to news of violence and death, the fatal shooting of a popular, young music promoter earlier this week apparently has galvanized the community.

The death of Tyrone Love, 26, who was by all accounts one of the good guys, has sparked a rally, two vigils, a benefit concert set for Monday night, and renewed discussion among community leaders about how to reduce violence among youths.

A co-founder of a local music-promotion company named Vibrant Entertainment 206, Love worked during the day at the YMCA where he ran programs for at-risk youth.


This came as a surprise to me not just because I knew him but also because the community had become rather gentrified over the years, with nightclubs and malt liquor stores being replaced by Safeways, Trader Joe's and Starbucks. I'd hoped we'd been through the worst of it already.

I want to add that the murder of Tyrone was not necessarily caused by hip-hop. Reports show that the motive is unclear. Since rappers and others in the hip-hop community have been caught up in gang violence for decades, it'd be easy to say than this nice guy fell victim to the music that he (and I) helped promote. However, the hood is the hood and violence happens for no reason sometimes (like the Capitol Hill rave massacre that happened three years ago).

Whatever the motive, it's still depressing. I remember talking to Tyrone about soul music at Seattle Central Community College and him telling me about working at the YMCA. I hope that the children he helped will be inspired to do the same kind of work.

Rest in peace.

0 comments: