Jay IDK performs at the Hip Hop Collective in Stamp’s Grand Ballroom on Dec 8, 2014.
The Maryland Hip-Hop Collective hosted its first-ever Collective4Cancer event Monday in Stamp Student Union.
“We wanted to expose the University of Maryland to the sheer amount of talent in the area while doing good for the community,” said James Edwards Jr., who organized the event and is treasurer of the group.
The concert featured a set of local artists, including Fred Suede, Aarborne, Deuce Caliber (D-Cal), Jay IDK, Apollo Renegade, Cazanova and Reks Pepper. Some performers were students and members of the Hip-Hop Collective, and others were from the Washington area.
“There’s kind of a stigma when you say ‘local artist,’” Edwards said. “A lot of people assume ‘amateur,’ but these guys are anything but. They all have the potential to be the next Jay-Z; I truly believe that.”
The Maryland Hip Hop Collective was founded in the spring and gives artists on the campus the opportunity to network, promote and collaborate with one another with their music. A group of friends with a passion for hip-hop came together and formed the club, primarily under the guidance of its original president, Armon Font, Edwards said.
Proceeds from tickets, which cost $5, went to Bethesda-based Hope Connections for Cancer Support.
“There’s really two sides to cancer,” Edwards said. “No one really thinks of the mental side, but that’s really something that puts a lot of psychological pressure on [a person].”
That, Edwards said, is where Hope Connections steps in.
“They’re a lot different from conventional treatment methods,” he said. “They organize support groups so patients have a place to talk about their treatment and disease.”
Edwards, a senior government and politics major, first joined with Hope Connections through an internship during which he has helped organize fundraising efforts for the nonprofit organization.
“James came to us as an intern, and he had a vision to bring together Hope Connections and hip-hop,” said Jonathan Anderson, Hope Connections development director. “I didn’t think he could do it at first, but here we are, four months later, hosting a concert at the University of Maryland.”
The night began with a brief performance from university student Frederic “Fred Suede” Wasser. D-Cal, stage name of Edem Kwame, a senior public health science major, followed with a few a-cappella verses, then made way for Jay IDK, an artist out of Prince George’s County, who drew the crowd to the front of the room.
Apollo Renegade, a rapper out of Baltimore, came next, followed by Xplicit, the combined talents of Aaron “Aarborne” Wright, a junior mechanical engineering major, and Zach “Cazanova” Smith, a student emcee out of Montgomery County.
“I had a good time,” senior English major Alexis Novotny said. “I’d say Aarborne was my favorite of the night.”
After Xplicit, Reks Pepper performed, followed by Mani Sing, a rapper from Gaithersburg, as the show drew to a close.
About 75 people attended the event in Stamp’s Grand Ballroom, and the Maryland Hip-Hop Collective raised about $2,500, much of it from anonymous donors. Edwards said the group aims to build off the event and provide similar programs in the future.
