Hey all — Steve ‘Flash’ Juon here. At the beginning of May 2020, I lost my job due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Previously I had been working as a sports reporter covering the Bellator MMA beat for MMAMania.com, but mixed martial arts companies across the board opted to cancel or postpone their events in light of the health risks to athletes and fans alike. Even those who continued to run did so sparingly and with no fans allowed to attend. Bellator was among the first to do so and I must commend them for erring on the side of caution even though it was the first domino to fall in a chain that led to me getting the axe.

I bring all of this up simply to illustrate that as your editor-in-chief, I had been paying the expenses for running the site out of pocket for some time, and late in 2019 those costs unexpectedly doubled. At that time I relaunched the RapReviews Patreon account with a streamlined, simplified goal — covering the costs of the hosting. That’s it. Your contributions have inched us closer to achieving that goal each month, with the perk at the end being the elimination of all banner ads on the website. Thanks to my work as a sports writer I was able to make up the difference on the hosting even when the price skyrocketed dramatically, but that work no longer exists and I have no guarantee that they are going to rehire me even if Bellator MMA gets back up and running again.

I’m far from the only person to have been hit economically during the coronavirus crisis and I’m well aware of it, but unfortunately for me I now have the double whammy of paying more AND making less money than I did before. Instead of using sports writing to make up the difference, I’ll have to dig even deeper. Hip-Hop has literally saved my life more times and ways than I can count so I’m indebted whether or not I have a monthly webhosting bill to cover. That’s the real deal. If you are fortunate enough to still have a job though and RapReviews has provided a valuable service to you week after week, month after month, year after year for over two decades, even a dollar a month can make a difference. I’m humbled to accept any amount that gets us to our goal and can keep this site a voice for the community.

Sincere regards,
Steve ‘Flash’ Juon