Maya McFadden Photos
Rapper G Herbo performs for fans at Westville Bowl Wednesday night.
The Chicago rapper known as G Herbo used to come to New Haven as a teen to kick start his music career. He returned to town as the headliner for a free full-capacity hip-hop show for pandemic-weary city youth, a summer celebration of community at the Westville Bowl.
G Herbo was one of three artists performed at the Westville Music Bowl Wednesday evening for the free concert hosted by the city’s Youth and Recreation Department (YARD). Other performances were by Jamaican dancehall singer HoodCelebrityy and rapper and singer Toosii.
The show’s 8,000 tickets were claimed in 27 minutes. Out of health and safety precautions YARD filled the venue to about 66 percent of capacity. Masks were given out at the door and required for entry.
In an interview after the show, G Herbo talked about the impact New Haven made on him nine years ago as a starting artist. “New Haven was one of the first places that reached out to me and understood my music,” he said.
At 17 years old, he had small shows and performances at New Haven venues like Toad’s Place. “I never really knew I had fans until coming to New Haven,” he said.
Gwendolyn Busch Williams, G Herbo, and Ron Huggins.
YARD partnered with the city Health Department, street outreach workers from the Connecticut Violence Intervention Program, and several police departments to provide youth with a “positive, safe, and fun” event.
City Director of Youth and Recreation Gwendolyn Busch Williams and Youth Services Specialist Ronald Huggins, who emceed the show alongside rapper and promoter Fatman Scoop, organized the event with the help of the New Haven, West Haven, and Yale police departments.
“We were here for support and safety,” said Assistant Police Chief Karl Jacobson. “We had zero arrests and zero negative interactions.
“Our officers wanted this for these kids. New Haven youth need things like this.”
Dancehall singer HoodCelebrityy.
Huggins said when the artists heard about the concert’s focus on kids, they each decreased their performance prices by more than 50 percent.
G Herbo performed last due to his flight from Chicago getting canceled. His luggage was also lost at the airport.
“He was so dedicated to being here he used the money he made from tonight to get a private chopper to fly here and be here for you guys,” Huggins told the crowd.
“Kids have been home for 18 months, and their parents are still struggling to pay rent. We did this for them, so families don’t have to worry about nothing,” Huggins said.
Toosii takes videos on fans’ phones during performance.
This is the second annual YARD free concert for youth. In 2019 YARD brought out R&B singers Sammie, the Hamden native Avery Wilson, and Hip Hop star PnB Rock. Last year’s planned summer show was canceled due to the pandemic.
This year’s concert was funded by a portion of the city’s federal American Rescue Plan dollars, Huggins said. “The crowds at concerts for big artists aren’t usually made up of urban kids like today’s was,” Huggins said. “We knew we had to remove the financial issues.”
Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers encouraged the kids to keep the event positive so more can happen in the future.
“We need to show everybody that the youth in New Haven can come together and have no violence,” she said. “Because every time we say we want to do something for the youth everybody get a little skeptical. Not me.”
Beaver Hills Alder Richard Furlow, Mayor Justin Elicker, Community Services Administrator Mehul Dalal, and Health Director Maritza Bond were also in attendance at the event.
Wednesday’s MC’s Huggins and rapper Fat Man Scoop.
Wednesday was the new Music Bowl’s first hip-hop show, said Huggins. “Hip hop is a genre of music filled with regular people telling their stories,” he said.
Singer/Rapper Toosii.
Toosii interacts with crowd off stage during performance.
During his performance Toosii brought out New Haven artist DustyStayTrue to perform two songs. This fall DustyStayTrue will go on tour with Toosii as a special guest.
Blair Griffin, Jordan Alston, Jesenna Alston.
Sisters Jordan and Jesenna Alston and Blair Griffin got seats in the pit for Wednesday’s concert. The group said they were shocked to see artists like Toosii and G Herbo coming to Connecticut. “People don’t usually care about Connecticut,” said Jesenna, 17.
In the past Jordan, 20, and Griffin, 20, said they have had to travel to other towns to see concerts at places like the Oakdale Theatre and Foxwoods Resort Casino. “The fact that this happened in New Haven is surprising,” Griffin said. The Wednesday concert was Jesenna’s first ever.
Although nervous about crowding at the concert and potential Covid-19 spread, the trio decided to obtain tickets because they were tired of spending their summer indoors.
Jordan and Griffin said they spend their days with their kids, who were too young to bring to the concert. Jesenna said she would be “bored inside” if not at the concert Wednesday.
Friends Gigi, Ma’Kiya Barkley, Tareesa, Stormy.
Wednesday was 17-year-old Ma’Kiya Barkley’s first-ever concert. She was most excited to see G Herbo perform. “Tonight was amazing. He made eye contact with me and everything,” she said.
Barkley, who lives in Bridgeport, was joined by six of her friends at the event. “I felt safe and had the time of my life,” she said.
New Haven native Mikayla Rountree, 13, not only got a front row seat to see her favorite artists G Herbo and Toosii, but even was passed a towel from G Herbo during his performance.
Mikayla Rountree with towel from G Herbo.
Rountree has been listening to G Herbo since she was 11 years old. She saw him perform live for her first concert ever Wednesday night. Rountree was joined at the concert by her sister and a few cousins.
“When he gave me his towel I was so excited, because that’s literally my favorite rapper,” Rountree said.
“This was wonderful for her, because the pandemic has them locked them up in the house,” said Rountree’s mom, Karen Bunkley. “For a year we haven’t been able to do anything. But yesterday she finally got to get out and be amongst other people.”
My deepest, heartfelt thanks to everyone who made this possible-
"YARD partnered with the city Health Department, street outreach workers from the Connecticut Violence Intervention Program, and several police departments to provide youth with a "positive, safe, and fun" event.
City Director of Youth and Recreation Gwendolyn Busch Williams and Youth Services Specialist Ronald Huggins, who emceed the show alongside rapper and promoter Fatman Scoop, organized the event with the help of the New Haven, West Haven, and Yale police departments."
A special thanks to toosii, HoodCelebrityy and g herbo who went above and beyond to make sure teens from the city had their special night.
When I was a teen growing up in the city we could usually scrape up enough money for an occasional tickets to a concert at the New Haven Veteran's Memorial Coliseum or the Hartford Coliseum. Then ticket prices jumped so high and ticket sales went online making sleeping out for ticket sales outside of Cutler's Record Shop impossible and getting tickets for popular acts near impossible with computer robots buying up huge tracts of concert seats.
While recent generations of teens and young adults missed out on the joys of attending concerts locally and the pandemic creating a tremendous loss of social opportunities for New Haven youth, this incredible act of generosity from the concert organizers, the performers, and everyone involved will have young people from the city remembering this one night for the rest of their lives. Listen to the children's quotes in this article " I felt safe" "I felt happy" "I had the time of my life" "people don't usually care about CT"
Well this night, the youth of new Haven felt cared for, and they felt they mattered, and they had a safe, positive and fun experience socializing with their peers that they could afford to attend. I hope people will donate to the sponsors of this event to support more events like this in the future, and other events focused on teens.