Trenton’s Jersey Fresh Jam festival marks 20 years of celebrating hip-hop

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The Jersey Fresh Jam festival, which bills itself as “New Jersey’s premier hip-hop festival,” marks its 20th anniversary Aug. 16 at TerraCycle headquarters in Trenton, New Jersey.

Trenton-based muralist Leon Rainbow founded the free event that celebrates the four foundational elements of hip-hop: graffiti, breakdancing, MCing and DJing. Each year, the festival draws over a thousand attendees for an eclectic blend of live music, visual art, dance and community pride.

“This year is focused a lot on the youth,” Rainbow said. “The breakdancing is one of the biggest draws.”

The annual event has become a summer staple for the Trenton community. This year, aerosol artists from all across the country will create large-scale murals on the exterior walls of TerraCycle, a global recycling company whose walls have served as the festival’s canvas since its inception. As a tribute to the host site, different artists are redesigning each letter in the TerraCycle logo on the building’s exterior.

“A lot of places don’t have the amount of wall space that we have in one location,” Rainbow said. “So [the location] makes it a good vibe.”

Graffiti artists from the West Coast and Philadelphia will also stop by to create murals on the building’s exterior, and guest DJs Tony Touch, Lord Finesse and DJ Priority will spin the ones and twos for festivalgoers.

The origin story

Hip-hop was born in the early ‘70s in the Bronx when Clive Campbell, popularly known as DJ Kool Herc, while spinning records at parties, extended instrumental breaks of funk and soul songs to allow people to dance longer at parties. Slowly, that spawned into a multi-billion-dollar industry, which has influenced everything from fashion to politics.

Rainbow said he conceived the Trenton festival when he was working with a hip-hop crew in Philadelphia. When TerraCycle moved its headquarters to Trenton, Rainbow said he thought it was a perfect opportunity to establish a festival in New Jersey’s capital city that celebrated hip-hop culture.

Rick “Rick the Ruler” Camilo, coordinator and host for the breakdancing battle at this year’s festival, said the event provides an opportunity for breakdancers to establish a name for themselves in the breaking community.

“We promote to the local breaking community through word of mouth, social media, and other community events,” he said. “We also like to make our events as memorable as possible by not only providing a competition, but also workshops for the youth.”

This year, festival organizers reached out to two local notable breakers with decades of experience and will fly in a third judge from Houston, Texas, to critique the competition.

FlyKickz, an artist known for upcycling sneakers to create art on canvas and for her philanthropy, has been a vendor at Jersey Fresh Jams for 13 years. She credits the festival’s ability to connect with the community.

“This event has allowed me the opportunity to be authentically myself, creating a space where my style of art and brand is appreciated and well-received,” she said. “FlyKickz has grown so much over the years, and Jersey Fresh Jam has continued to be a place where I can connect with the community, gain some new supporters, and have an incredible time.”

To mark their 20th anniversary, Rainbow published a book commemorating Fresh Jam festivals with photos of various murals created over the years. Leon said the book can be purchased by sending a direct message to him on his Instagram.

Jersey Fresh Jam takes place Saturday, Aug. 16 at 1 TerraCycle Way, Trenton, N.J. 08638, from noon to 7 p.m.

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