Desiigner made the point in the May 7 Forbes article that artists can help out during the pandemic in more than one way, because many are involved in other things besides music.

By the afternoon of Wednesday, May 27, Desiigner’s hometown of New York City had seen nearly 205,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, making the Big Apple by far the hardest-hit city in the nation.

He explained that many of his family members are still there and talked about his decision to partner with United Way of New York City for relief efforts.

“With everything hitting hard right now in New York City, I got a whole bunch of family members there and I want to help the communities out,” said Desiigner.

In his Forbes interview, Desiigner said another way he’s helping with COVID-19 relief efforts is by partnering with a business based in Anaheim, California called Mouth Masker.