New Orleans Bounce DJ Black N Mild Dies Following Coronavirus Infection
Oliver Stokes Jr. was a staple in the New Orleans bounce community.
New Orleans DJ Black N Mild has died, he is one of two coronavirus-related deaths confirmed in Louisiana on Thursday. According to Nola, a local publication, the DJ whose real name is Oliver Stokes Jr., 44, tested positive for coronavirus yesterday.
The Louisiana Department of Health previously shared that Stokes had underlying medical conditions. At the moment his underlying medical conditions aren’t available to the public. He reportedly left work on March 9 with a fever and did not return.
Alongside his music career, Stokes was an in-school suspension coordinator at Arthur Ashe Charter School in Gentilly since July. The CEO of FirstLine who spearheads the school shared, "Our school community is devastated. We strongly encouraged anyone that had any type of symptoms — fever, cough, not feeling well in any capacity — to stay home." She also added, "It’s challenging to work through this while we’re socially distanced."
Over the years, Stokes became known as a voice for the bounce community. NOLA reports that he worked at various radio stations. Additionally, his Bounce 104.5 show was allegedly one of the first radio mix shows dedicated to New Orleans bounce music.
While living in Houston after Hurricane Katrina, he headlined a mix show for KHOU. Between 2013 and 2017, his Rhythm and Bounce show took the Saturday night slot on New Orleans AM station WBOK. Over the past 25 years, he was a staple at clubs, parties and private affairs. In 2008, he founded a local chapter of Go DJ Global.
New Orleans DJ Adam “BlaqNmilD” Pigott who contributed to Drake's hit singles "In My Feelings" and "Nice For What" shared the following statement on the death of Stokes: "For the ones who don’t know, they always had two ‘Black N Milds in New Orleans," he said in a video. He went on to share, "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."
He also 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...it’s just crazy times right now, wicked times, with this coronavirus going on."