HARRISBURG, Pa. — Two unlikely partners, a hip-hop artist and a police commissioner, teamed up this summer to spread a positive anti-violence message.
“It is unusual, you could say, for a hip-hop artist to do something of that nature,” said hip-hop artist and Harrisburg native LOE Badgett.
It began when Badgett got an unusual request from Harrisburg City Mayor Wanda Williams and Police Commissioner Thomas Carter.
“I talked to his mother and she talked to him and he said that he’d be more than happy to try to come up with a song,” Carter said.
The result was “Break the Cycle,” a single by LOE Badget featuring Alonda Rich. In the song’s music video, scenes of Harrisburg play while upbeat lyrics encourage self-worth and contributing to your own future and to your community.
Badgett recently won 2022 best rap/hip-hop artist of the year by the Central Pennsylvania Music Hall of Fame. He said that influence helps spread the positive message he’s literally using his voice to communicate: “I’m one of the most popular artists in the city currently, and what better way for me to be able to touch the people that come after me, touch the young ones, and give them a positive message?”
LOE Badgett’s two-year-old son makes several appearances in the music video. Badgett said the call to action is personal, because he wants his son to learn those lessons. Still, he hopes people in Harrisburg and throughout the country can relate to his lyrics.
Police Commissioner Carter, meanwhile, said he sees music outreach as part of a community-based policing strategy.
“We have to meet the people where they’re at, and that’s one of the places that they’re at,” Carter said.
Harrisburg City featured LOE Badgett as a performer at its first annual Juneteenth celebration this year.