Hip Hop and the arts is the heart and soul of Columbus, Ohio. There is a lot of talent that runs through Columbus from DJ’ing to graffiti to rapping, b-boy/b-girl, painting and more. Every week you can find a different event that circles around the Hip Hop culture.

This past Thursday there was event called the Aesthetic pop-up jam that gives the chance to spotlight different artists in the city to showcase their talent and to raise money for the William H Thomas Gallery and the Urban Cultural Arts Foundation.

The William H Thomas Gallery (also known as “The Gallery in the Hood”), is noted as one of the oldest and continued operated black owned, independent art galleries in the United States. The gallery is in Olde Towne East in Columbus, Ohio. The William H Thomas Gallery has been around since 1978, but opened to the public in 1989 by the owner Chief Baba Shango Obadina. He plays a big influential role in promoting the work and careers of local black artists.

The Aesthetic pop-up jam is the first of many events that will be held at the William Thomas Gallery. On Thursday night two of the hottest emcees of Columbus stopped through to show the support and to show off their amazing talent. The host Charles Ewing who is from Akron, Ohio felt the need to start doing a showcase and to raise money to keep the William H Thomas Gallery open. According to Charles he states, “there aren’t a lot of black owned galleries that are still open in the city, so we have to do what we can to keep this open to show off the talent of the artwork and the music.” The two hottest lyricists in the city that stopped through was an artist by the name of Copywrite and Vadaazeem.

You can’t have an event without some smooth sounds which were provided by DJ Pos. DJ Pos plays a big part in the Columbus Hip Hop community and has worked with a lot of local artists. When he is not DJ’ing, he works and one of the legendary and historic record stores in the city Roots Records located at 554 w Rich st.

When I got a chance to catch up it with DJ Pos he stated, “Hip Hop and the arts go hand in hand, but I really do it for the youth because the youth need us and doing music and art will guide them in the right direction.”

You can follow William H Thomas Gallery on IG @williamhthomasgallery, Charles Ewing @charlesewing and DJ Pos @selectah_pos. Make sure you follow them for future events.