Hip Hop For The Homeless Kicks Off Year Nine In New Haven

Mike Marques Photo

Joey Batts.

Year nine, can you believe it?” said Joey Batts, creator and organizer of Hip Hop for The Homeless, expressing his excitement about the annual live event, which begins on Thursday this week at The State House. It will go on to include seven shows at seven different venues throughout Connecticut, spanning the next two weeks. The event will focus on its yearly goal of raising money and collecting food, clothing, and personal hygiene items for specific organizations in each city where it is held, but it’s also focused on the local hip hop community.

I think one thing that I would focus on this year is that about 40 percent of the artists are going to be artists that have never been part of Hip Hop for the Homeless before,” said Batts. We are being very mindful of ushering in new talent, ushering in young talent, and sort of ushering in a new wave of local hip hop artists who can help us continue Hip Hop for the Homeless for the next decade.”

Batts believes that there is a renewed energy in the community to be out and performing live again after a couple of years of Covid restrictions. 

I think this can be said amongst a lot of the genres … a lot of extroverted artists and performers saw what the world looked like without live music, without live entertainment, and I think it sort of lit a fire underneath them, so they are now chomping at the bit for more and more opportunities, and more and more exposure, and more and more places to share their music — because they see the other side, and they know how detrimental and how depressing it is to not have that capacity and to not have that outlet.”

At the heart of each event are the people who help organize and perform. Batts is quick to note that as an independent artist, even prior to creating Hip Hop for the Homeless, he has always been rooted in community.”

I could never ask Sketch or Ceschi to put me on a show in New Haven if they couldn’t ask the same of me if they were doing a show in Hartford,” he said. I think that it’s difficult to find artists who are not just willing to collaborate, but are willing to support other artists.”

Hip Hop for the Homeless is not your average hip hop show,” he continued. Hip Hop for the Homeless is not your average independent show. We’re doing something for the community and we’re building community within the independent musical realm.”

Batts feels that community is something that we must continue to build regardless of gender, regardless if they’re artists of color or non-binary. We really want to preach that narrative that if you’re going to become part of this, we want you to really be someone who supports the big picture and everything that we’re doing.… That’s how we grow.”

Jennifer O'Malia Photo

Batts performing at a past event.

Speaking of community, each event is focused on one particular organization in the hosting town, in order to provide the best response to that particular community. Thursday’s show at The State House in New Haven will benefit Columbus House. Friday’s show at Hoops N Hops in Simsbury will benefit the Simsbury Food Pantry. Saturday’s show at The Oasis Pub in New London will benefit the New London Homeless Hospitality Center. Next week’s shows include Dec. 7 at The Main Pub in Manchester (benefitting MACC Charities), Dec. 8 at Black Eyed Sally’s in Hartford (benefitting Hands on Hartford) Dec. 9 at Hook and Ladder in New Britain (benefitting The Friendship Center), and Dec. 10 at Strange Brew Pub in Norwich (benefitting TVCCA Shelter).

Covid changed everything for everyone, and Batts wanted to remind the public that those changes include how the homeless and displaced communities received their assistance and care.

An outbreak in a shelter could floor them,” he said.

We are trying to help this community, and Covid is one of the worse things to happen to this community because these people require hands on treatment. These people require people to make their food for them. They require kitchens to supply them with sustenance. They require blankets, bedding … in a situation that already felt so crippling, it was even more detrimental.”

Many shelters stopped accepting used clothing and bedding beginning in 2020 and have kept those parameters in place, so Batts has put the call out for new blankets, new packs of underwear and socks, new winter coats, and clothing with the tags still on them for both children and adults. 

People need layers,” he added.

Hygiene products that some shelters have had trouble buying in bulk due to limited supplies are also in demand, and non-perishable food donations are always appreciated.”

Batts is also quick to note that although this is a yearly event, there is an ongoing continuous need for assistance and that there are many working diligently all year long to provide that assistance.

I care about the displaced community and the homeless community,” he said. I decided to start this event nine years ago, but there are still so many people that work with these communities day in and day out that do so much more for them than I do. I don’t want people to think I got it all figured out. I certainly don’t.”

I think we have to be mindful that we aren’t guardian angels,” he continued. We aren’t fixers, we’re just people that are able to help them either get from point A to point B a little bit smoother or we’re here to help them stop a pattern, or a downward spiral, and maybe we can help alleviate some of what they’re dealing with in a difficult time in a Connecticut winter, and a difficult time during the holidays where they may not have a lot of support.” 

Batts is also mindful to not let prejudice and bias — often influenced by how unhoused people are portrayed in film and television — determine what people in need look like, or require.

I think we have to be really careful with the narrative,” he said. These people are still individuals and each one of them has a different life story, every single one of them has a different need.”

Over the years Hip Hop for the Homeless has had performers who have told their own stories of being homeless or displaced, and many of those performers keep returning annually to offer their assistance or perform. All of the performers at all seven shows will be locally based. Some of those performers have curated and organized specific shows. The New Haven show, for instance, will be helmed by Sketch Tha Cataclysm, who has been involved every year since the event’s inception and hosted last year’s show at The State House. Muggsy curated and will host the New Britain show, and N.M.E. the Illest and Stryfe will be doing the same in both Norwich and New London. Batts will be performing this year at a number of the shows, including New Haven — something he is definitely looking forward to.

I’m going to carve out some time because I got some new stuff I definitely want to work on,” he said. 

Karen Ponzio Photo

The 50x50's (Sketch tha Cataclysm and Deto 22) performing at last year's New Haven event.

And then there are the shirts, initially another way to raise funds, that have now become a highly collectible item for many. This past weekend Batt’s revealed this year color scheme — slate grey with volt and white — on Facebook and Instagram.

This is actually my favorite color way I think ever, which is pretty high praise,” he said. Probably the most fun that I have is figuring out what color the shirts are going to be.” 

Dave Crecco

Shirts from past events.

With the event’s tenth year on the horizon, Batts is filled with gratitude for everyone involved. 

Man, I didn’t know nine years ago what the hell I was doing,” he said. I love that one of my legacies is that I do good business, club owners and bar owners are happy to work with me, the patrons who frequent my shows are respectful of their environment, the artists who I work with are easy to work with, and [we have] a great reputation. We’ve never had any bad press or any issues at any of our shows and I think that all adds to the legacy of really what we’re doing.”

I know I started it and my face is on it,” he concluded, but I really couldn’t do it without the supporting cast and all the venues taking a shot on independent hip hop and not feeding into the negative stigmas and stereotypes. We’re able to have a great time every year.” 

Hip Hop for the Homeless kicks off this Thursday, Dec. 1 at The State House. Please visit the Hip Hop for the Homeless Facebook page and Instagram page for further information about that show and the next six shows that will be happening over the next two weeks. 

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