By Jacob Mungal
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – Camden County College hosted its latest Fourth Friday Open Mic this week.
From noon to 2 p.m., students and faculty showed off their talents by singing or performing spoken word. Each act was allowed 10 minutes to perform. This semester, the sheet for students and staff performing was filled.
“We have three each semester and all three this semester have been filled as far as performers go,” says Amy Tighe, a career and technical education coach at CCC and a staff member behind the event. Although anyone can perform whatever they like, Tighe says “lately, it’s just music” with original songs and popular covers.
The students performing had stories to tell, stories that added depth and emotion to every beat and lyric. One student, Trevon Alexander, better known under the rap name TriggaTr357, became a musical artist because of gun violence.
“I came up kind of rough and so I started making music when I was a victim of gun violence. I was shot at 16 in 2010,” he says. He also states he “needed an outlet to start venting.”
Alexander performed some original songs at the event, such as “Good for Nothing,” “Mama’s Boy” and “Hollywood Motion.” His advice for those who wish to perform in the near future is “just do it.”
Giovanni Mead, an 18-year-old audio production major, also performed at the event. Gino, as he prefers to be called, got involved in the concert band at his high school, which began his passion for music and led him to pursue it at a higher level. Gino performed two songs, “Karma Police” by Radiohead and “Change” by Deftones.
“I chose ‘Karma Police’ because of a recent life circumstance considering what the song is about. I performed ‘Change’ because Ms. Tighe asked me if I wanted to perform another song,” he says in a slight giggle. Gino also had the song “Change” play during his MMA debut, which is another reason he decided to perform the Deftones classic.
His advice for those who wish to perform is “just do it honestly. It’s definitely nerve-wracking but you get used to being nervous.”
The next Fourth Friday Open Mic will take place in February.