An online fundraiser posted by Urban Community Arts Network (UCAN) is looking to raise $8,000 to support local hip-hop artist Rob Franklin, better known as Rob Dz, after he suffered a heart attack during a performance at on November 12.
Funds raised will help cover co-pays, medications and time off from his job at Madison Public Library to recover.
“Rob is a staple to the local music community,” UCAN president Karen Reece Phiffer told Madison365. “He knows so many people in so many different walks of life, and genuinely wants people to be blessed by the gift of music, whether that’s him performing on stage or teaching kids in a classroom or at the library. I mean, you can see that he really gets joy from that.”
She said money raised will directly offset costs of care and medication, and also give Franklin “the ability to … cut out any side gigs for a little while and just get full rest.”
In addition to performing and recording regularly, Franklin is the driving force behind MAD LIT, a series of free outdoor summer concerts in downtown Madison, as well as other endeavors. He was named one of Madison365’s Most Influential Black Leaders in 2022.
Witnesses have said Franklin had just finished his set at Gamme Ray Bar, where he was performing on a bill with Icky Reels and Fatboi Sharif, when he collapsed. Gamma Ray staff responded to render aid and emergency services arrived quickly enough to get him to the hospital. He’s undergone two surgeries.
Franklin is the Media Projects Bubblerarian for the Madison Public Library. He has performed with Nas, Eminem, Common, Talib Kweli, Dead Prez and others. In 2017, he was inducted to the American Folklife Center at the Library Of Congress and The National Museum Of African American History and Culture as a member of The Story Corps program.
As of Tuesday morning, the fundraiser had raised just over $5,000. Donations are still being sought at this link.
