New Orleans Bounce Deejay Black N Mild, 44, Dies After Coronavirus Infection
Akemi Briggs
photo courtesy of NOLA.com
NOLA.com- Popular New Orleans bounce deejay and radio personality Oliver Stokes Jr., better known as Go DJ Black N Mild, was one of two
coronavirus-related deaths in Louisiana on Thursday, the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office confirmed. He was 44.
The coroner’s office on Friday said Stokes had tested positive for COVID-19 and died the previous day.
The Louisiana Department of Health previously stated that the 44-year-old coronavirus patient who died Thursday in Orleans Parish had underlying medical conditions, but didn’t specify what those conditions were.
In addition to his music career, Stokes had also worked as the In School Suspension Coordinator at Arthur Ashe Charter School in Gentilly since July 2019.
“Our school community is devastated,” said Sabrina Pence, the CEO of FirstLine Schools, the charter organization that operates Arthur Ashe. “It’s challenging to work through this while we’re socially distanced.”
Stokes left work on March 9 with a fever, Pence said, and did not return.
“We strongly encouraged anyone that had any type of symptoms — fever, cough, not feeling well in any capacity — to stay home,” Pence said.
After leaving work on March 9, Stokes chronicled the first parts of his fight against the infection on social media. His Facebook feed shows that he went to the Ochsner Urgent Care-Lakeview facility. He posted that afternoon that his temperature was 102.4 degrees.
When someone messaged that he should follow the doctor’s orders, he replied, “I will. I don’t mess around with my health.”
By March 11, he’d been admitted to University Medical Center. His final Facebook posted consisted of four words — “pneumonia not the flu” — and an emoji wearing a medical mask.
Outside of his duties at Arthur Ashe, Pence was widely known for his life in music. Over the years, he deejayed at various radio stations. His “Bounce 104.5” show was reportedly one of the first radio mix shows dedicated to New Orleans bounce music. During a multi-year exile in Houston following Hurricane Katrina, he hosted a mix show for KHOU. From 2013 to 2017, his “Rhythm and Bounce” show was featured on Saturday nights on New Orleans AM station WBOK.
For the past 25 years, he also deejayed at countless clubs, parties and other private events across the southeast. In 2008, Stokes founded the Louisiana chapter of Go DJ Global, an international federation of deejays, and took the stage name Go DJ Black N Mild.
He apparently rode in the Krewe of Crescent City truck parade on Mardi Gras. A post on his professional Facebook page indicated he would be on the passenger side of float 49.
“Holla at ya people!” the message said.
The similarity of Stokes’ stage name to that of another New Orleans bounce figure, Adam “BlaqNmilD” Pigott, has caused confusion. Pigott has worked mostly as a producer, crafting recordings by Big Freedia, Magnolia Shorty, Lil Wayne, Master P, Juvenile and scores of other rappers.
More recently, Pigott contributed to two hit singles by superstar rapper Drake, “Nice For What” and “In My Feelings.”
In a video posted to Facebook on Thursday, Pigott offered condolences to Stokes’ children. He also sought to dispel rumors that he was the person who had died.
“For the ones who don’t know, they always had two ‘Black N Milds in New Orleans,” Pigott said in the video. “They had a Go DJ Black N Mild who was with the Go DJs. Cool guy.
“I’m the producer BlaqNmilD from New Orleans. I did a little bit of deejaying too, so I can see why some people get it confused. We spell our names totally different.”
But because their stage names are both pronounced “black and mild” and they were both from New Orleans, Pigott said, a “lot of people been hitting me up, hitting my people up, thinking it’s me. I’m perfectly fine. I’m alright so far. I’m OK I’m healthy.”
But, he conceded, “it’s just crazy times right now, wicked times, with this coronavirus going on.”
