Raheem DeVaughn Talks Legacy, HIV Advocacy, and Partnering with Gilead at Essence Festival

At the 2025 Essence Festival, R&B artist and activist Raheem DeVaughn took a moment to reflect on his legacy and the important work he’s doing to raise awareness about HIV in the Black community with his Gilead partnership.

“It’s great to still have my name in the conversation of music, radio, media, advocacy, all the things that are important,” said DeVaughn.

When asked about his legacy, he shared: “I want to be known as a humanitarian, somebody who’s about community. Somebody that was about, you know, about the babies… and they made a left catalog of just like great music, great memories, great entertainer, you know, all the things.”

DeVaughn is currently partnering with Gilead to promote HIV education and testing, along with Dr. Contessa Metcalfe and Tamar Braxton.

“Advocating, creating awareness, talking about HIV, breaking down the stigmatization of fear, being, getting tested,” he said regarding his decision to join in the partnership. “I’m standing with Gilead in solidarity, you know, in hopes that we don’t have to talk about HIV one day.”

He also addressed the disproportionate impact of HIV on Black women.

“Black women make up for more than 50% of the new cases among women,” he said, while also encouraging people to learn about PrEP. “Get tested, talk to your doctor about PrEP. Have the conversations. They have home kits now. You swab me, I swab you.”

When asked about backlash Braxton received after publicly sharing that she takes PrEP, DeVaughn said he wasn’t aware, but “I think once you find out these statistics out here, and you educate yourself on what PrEP is, I would think that would be something that you would want to consider.”