New Haven’s Black Wall Street festival kicked off its opening event on Monday.
“We just really wanted to just shed light on all the different facets of art, Black art throughout the city,” said Black Wall Street founder Aaron Rogers.
Rogers alongside Rashad Johnson started the Black Wall Street festival in 2022. This is the third year the event is taking place, but the first year it is a weeklong affair.
“We’re Grammy-nominated producers, multi-platinum selling,” said Rogers. “So, we know how hard it is to honestly find opportunities in a small city like New Haven.”
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Sixteen artists were selected to showcase their music at opening event with 10 of them taking advantage of the opportunity.
For artists like Young Rah, music runs in his blood. He points to his late father as inspiration.
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“I like to call my music hood poetry,” the rapper says. “I like to speak to the people I grew up with.”
He says he’s grateful for the opportunity after a year of taking music seriously.
“It means a lot because my music it actually means something to me,” he said. “And I feel like it should mean something to other people, too.”
Porsche Hunnit who describes her music as pop, R&B and rap, recently moved to Hartford and is looking for local exposure.
“It’s a great thing they’re doing bringing the community together and showing their talents,” she said. “I’m just looking for management and things like that to get my feet grounded in the right way and basically just take off.”
New Haven’s Black Wall Street events will take place through Aug. 18 and will feature a film screening, investment summit, fashion show, brunch and more.
