Student Hip-Hop Organization celebrates student artistry at 919 Fest

Despite the cold, student performers and attendees came out to the Bell Tower Amphitheater on Saturday night to celebrate student artists at Student Hip-Hop Organization’s 919 Fest.

For its second year in a row, 919 Fest showcased a diverse lineup of student talent. The night began with a DJ set from DJ Maxx, followed by a step performance from Omega Psi Phi and ended with performances by artists in SHHO. Other artists featured included the UNC Loreleis, UNC Cypher, Alo Ver and Ebony Reader's Onyx/Theater Poetry. 

“It’s really a celebration of student artistry,” said Nicho Stevens, co-president of SHHO. “We first set out in our first year, we really wanted to show off and showcase the talent here at UNC because we saw a lot of students that had a lot of talent that didn’t really have avenues to express it, and we wanted to provide that for them.” 

The theme of this year’s 919 Fest was “Unite Carolina.” Stevens said they wanted to promote community building in light of recent political tensions and division in the country and on campus.

“Campus definitely feels divided, so a big goal of ours for this event and the theme of the event was to try to connect it under this theme of music and the theme of wanting to give back,” said Jemal Abdulhadi, vice president of SHHO. 

Abdulhadi said much of the proceeds raised by the event will go toward Hurricane Florence relief. 

Sophomore Grant Morgan, SHHO chairperson, said it was exciting to help plan the festival this year. 

“Last year, 919 Fest, we just used wooden frat stages, and it was pretty rudimentary,” Morgan said. “So this year we got to work with some production companies to get a professional stage out here, and it’s been a really cool experience to learn how to put together a professional-looking event.” 

Providing student artists with a professional performance experience is one of SHHO’s goals, Stevens said. He said he and his friends, Abdulhadi and Titus Grant, founded SHHO because they wanted help connect student artists with resources. 

“Hip-hop was always something that was a huge passion of ours, from just freestyling in dorm rooms while playing video games to aggressively listening to the newest albums that are coming out,” Stevens said. 

In the spring semester of 2017, SHHO formed for fellow hip-hop fans on campus. The organization now has around 40 active members and promotes appreciation of hip-hop and hip-hop culture. 

“We’ve done a number of things to basically promote hip-hop through a positive lens and allow people to learn more about the genre,” Abdulhadi said. 

Abdulhadi said 919 Fest is a culmination of the diversity and talent of SHHO. 

“We’re surrounded by so much creativeness that necessarily we may not see,” Stevens said.  “You could see someone who sits two seats over from you in Philosophy 101, and you didn’t know they were an artist or a producer or a dancer or something like that.”

arts@dailytarheel.com