Louisville-based teen hip-hop group addressing gun violence, mental health through song

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville-based hip-hop, neo-soul group is promoting empathy and critical thinking through song lyrics.

The Mighty Shades of Ebony mixes activism with performance. The teen group writes and performs original lyrics about social, economic and environmental issues.

Three years ago, the Mighty Shades of Ebony started a nonprofit called Justice League L.O.U., which stands for Love, Outreach and Unity.

"Love leads to outreach. If you have love for your community, you're gonna want to outreach and help them and with outreach brings unity, so it all comes back full circle," Genesis Hatchet said.

Hatchet, a duPont Manual junior, said the group performs their songs to address real-world problems.

"We actually have song called 'No more gun violence,' and some of the lyrics are: 'What goes around, comes around. That's karma. You don't need a gun. Where no book can be your armor,'" she said.

The Louisville Metro Police Department has arrested at least five juveniles for murder in Louisville this year.

"A lot of times, as Black kids or Black youth, we're fed this idea and we're put in this box of who we can and cannot be and we're just working to show all of those kids, to show all of the youth, that you don't have to be in that box and you can be so much greater than people tell you to be, you don't have to pick up a gun," Hatchet said. "You don't have to be in a gang. You don't have to be out here in the streets. You can be a scholar."

"As a young person, we shouldn't have to wait 10 years or 15 years to make that change. We should be able to do it now. Especially since, you know, we are the young people," Ingram Quick said.

Quick raps with Hatchet and Jayus Rasheed.

"We already have people you know, ruining their childhood. Hopefully not., but sometimes their future, it really hurts to see," Quick said.

The group said that's why they work to learn about gun violence and other issues.

"It's working and reaching out to these people, so that we can have a better community," Jayus Rasheed said. "Our 'Tricked-out trashcan' initiative was one of the first initiatives that we've ever done. It's about murals and trash cans and putting them into redlined neighborhoods. So, these neighborhoods can look beautiful and like we can have pride in these neighborhoods."

"Some people might not want to listen to a speech about gun violence, but they might want to listen to a song," Hatchet said.

The group has kids from ages 11 to 17. The group's founder, Chris Rasheed, said they perform around Louisville almost every weekend.

"I've discovered the fountain of youth because I get to watch them and experience them, and watch how they just take the world by storm," Chris Rasheed said. "When I tell them, 'I see you, and this is a partnership,' we're equals in trying to solve these problems. Therefore, by being active, they're no longer a victim."

For more information on Justice League L.O.U., click here.