DJ Black N Mild (Oliver Stokes Jr.), a popular bounce DJ and radio personality from New Orleans, has died at the age of 44. Stokes died after testing positive for coronavirus.
According to Nola.com, the Orleans Parish coroner’s office confirmed that DJ Black N Mild, whose real name is Oliver Stokes Jr., died Thursday.
The official twitter account of Talk Dat NOLA also confirmed on March 19 that DJ Black N Mild had died.
Stokes Jr. began documenting his illness on social media
Stokes began documenting his illness on Facebook on March 9 after he left work at Arthur Ashe Charter School located in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans with a fever.
Posts to his Facebook page show that he went to the Ochsner Urgent Care-Lakeview facility on March 9 with his temperature at 102.4 degrees, according to the Times-Picayune.
He posted on March 11 that he was receiving treatment after being admitted to New Orleans’ University Medical Center. But it was not clear what illness he was receiving treatment for.
BREAKING: Sources report that famed New Orleans’ DJ Black N Mild has died. Please continue to pray for his family as this story continues to develop. #NOLA pic.twitter.com/xHj8gG61rY
— Talk Dat NOLA™ (@TalkDatNOLA) March 19, 2020
When someone advised him on Facebook to follow the instructions of his medical caregivers, he answered that “I don’t mess around with my health.”
His final comment on Facebook was, “Pneumonia not the flu.”
Stokes Jr. was one of two people in the New Orleans area who died after testing positive for coronavirus
The Times-Picayune reported on March 20 that he was one of two people from the New Orleans area who had died after being diagnosed with coronavirus.
Some people confused Oliver Stokes Jr. (aka Go DJ Black N Mild) with the New Orleans music producer, DJ BlaqNmilD, whose real name is Adam Pigott.
Pigott has worked with rappers, such as Lil Wayne, Big Freedia, and Magnolia Shorty. He has also collaborated with Drake.
RIP to Go DJ Black N Mild, Oliver Stokes Jr. that has been named one of Louisiana’s reported COVID-19 victims
I thought @BlaqNmilD3K had passed – he’s alive, thank you Jesus. I had literally had my hand over my heart reading the news!!
— they killed 7 of my crocodilians (@mahaliahayana) March 20, 2020
Tributes pour in on Twitter
Fans, friends, and colleagues have been paying tribute on Twitter since news of the death of Stokes Jr. broke.
Oliver Stokes Jr Death : Oliver Stokes Jr Obituary, DJ Black n Mild Dead From CoronaVirus. https://t.co/n5GEhB5uWS pic.twitter.com/LSrJRcXt08
— Death / Obituary (@cesummary) March 21, 2020
Rest in peace, Oliver Stokes Jr. https://t.co/tZozOdZbUD
— lux-zury evangelista. ✨ (@audacityofdope) March 21, 2020
Who is Oliver Stokes Jr., aka DJ Black N Mild?
According to his Facebook page that has more than 6,900 followers, Stokes is a native of New Orleans. Black N Mild started his career as a DJ in New Orleans in 1995. He rose quickly to prominence among other DJs in the southeastern region of the country.
He was a mix show DJ. and his bounce 104.5 mix show was popular. It was the first mix show dedicated to New Orleans bounce music in the music history of the area, according to his Facebook page.
He relocated to Houston, Texas after Hurricane Katrina but returned to New Orleans in 2007.
He is widely regarded among the top DJs in the South and his mixtapes gained a broad audience across the country and abroad.
Stokes had four children, according to Billboard.
Several celebrities, including Idris Elba and Tom Hanks, have announced that they tested positive for coronavirus.