SoMA Wendy Salto ’22 shares her experience at the International Hip Hop Fest 2022.
To kick off this month, April, full of festivals, Trinity’s Temple of Hip Hop chapter celebrated its 16th annual International Hip Hop festival inviting acts from all over the world. This year’s festival fostered a unique sense of unity at a time when community was more important than ever. The second day of Temple of Hip Hop commenced with the painful news of the passing of Jillian Hegarty, a beloved Trinity student, and the hospitalization of two other students. The festival continued to provide support to the Trinity community at a time of immense loss and mourning.
People from all over came together to appreciate the work put into executing this staple event as well as the extraordinary talents that were showcased. This year’s festival took place March 31st to April 3rd. I was fortunate enough to attend a few events this weekend–check out the full schedule here. The festival is free and open to the public.
This past weekend challenged me to consider multiple elements of hip hop, if not all of them. According to the founder and creator of the national Temple of Hip Hop organization, a well-recognized rapper from the Bronx, KRS- One, the 9 elements of hip hop are break dancing, rapping, graffiti art, DJing, beatboxing, street fashion, street language, street knowledge, and street entrepreneurialism.
THURSDAY
While walking through the Trinity’s International Hip Hop festival’s Retrospective Gallery I was reminded of an interview I did with Selina Ortiz ‘19 during my first year at Trinity. We had both been working on the 14th annual festival together, and through the SoMA blog I had the opportunity to interview her and learn more about her involvement with the festival.
Time during the first day of the festival was reserved to celebrate the life of Mikey Bankston ’19 and present a mural done in his memory. At Trinity, Mikey held a significant role in the school’s Temple of Hip Hop chapter as an organizer and radio show host. His mother, along with a few of Mikey’s classmates, shared kind words. Something that stuck with me was how strong the sense of community, pain, and love could be felt and visually seen. As Mikey would say, and his mother reminded us Thursday evening, “Just be great.” Mikey just was great.
FRIDAY
The message below was shared on behalf of the Temple of Hip-Hop family to the Trinity community on Friday of the festival:
“Flowers for Jillian is a tribute to the life of Jillian Hegarty. There are no words to describe the level of grief we are experiencing as a campus but we hope that this mural can help bring comfort and unity to those who come across it. There will be acrylic markers for students and staff to leave messages for Jillian, her family, and for one another. So take some time to stop by and write a message of love, leave flowers, or take a moment of silence.”
Temple has received permission to keep the memorial murals up past the end of the Hip Hop festival.
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After my shift at Trinfo.Cafe on Friday, I made my way down Broad Street to check out the live graffiti mural painting being done right by one of my favorite Hartford Hotspots, El Sarape.
It’s amazing that Hip Hop Fest has resulted in so many amazing murals around the city of Hartford. It was great seeing that there was a crowd of people there the entire time, appreciating the process of graffiti mural painting.
While the mural was being completed, I decided to go check out the event happening at the new public library that was built on the corner of Park and Broad. I arrived to hear a familiar voice on the panel–Trinity alumna Jasmin Agosto ’10 reflected on the impact Hip Hop Fest has had on her and about her experiences archiving hip hop.
“The 5th Element: Archiving Hip Hop: Theory and Praxis” panel also featured Ben Ortiz (Cornell University Hip Hop Collection), Martha Diaz (Universal Hip Hop Museum), and Magee McIlvaine (Nomadic Wax)
One of my favorite events that takes place during the festival is the B-Boy/B-Girl Showcase. I did not expect to remember so many faces from the festival my first year. The dancers this year definitely did not disappoint. With such precision and confidence, they left many people with their mouths open while watching their intricate moves.
SATURDAY
Once more, I ventured off campus to check out the live graffiti happening on Park Street.
Hip Hop Fest had a packed schedule all weekend long. Two events I would like to highlight, despite being unable to stay, are the Get Down Beat Battle and the gallery at 111 Allyn St. The beat battle, due to some unprecedented issues, was pushed back an hour. Here I saw the support and sense of community the festival cultivates as people stayed, waited for the new start time, and even came back if they did leave. I was unable to take pictures because the event had not started yet, but the gallery was truly amazing to see in person.
I loved attending the DJ showcase. There was an immense variety of music and styles. At one point, DJ Kennedi played an oldie but a goodie that brought people to get up out of their seats and dance.
I got to see Bocafloja, an act that came from Mexico which was really cool given my own Mexican roots. While I was unable to see the headliner, Dave East, live in person, I did get to see a few people’s stories the next day. It looked like there was a significant turn out of not only Trinity students, but also people from the community.
SUNDAY
I went to see the finished murals on Park Street.
Thank you to everyone that put in work to make sure this amazing festival took place this year. Your efforts do not go unnoticed. Temple of Hip Hop is such a crucial part to spring at Trinity. I am grateful that such an event exists to always unite and bring together the Trinity and Hartford communities as well as people from around the world.
In case you are curious and would like to check out the different spots mentioned throughout the blog post, here’s a Google map with the different locations pinned.
Follow @TrinityHipHop on Insta to stay in the know come next April.