BILLINGS — On Friday, multi-platinum rapper Chingy partnered with Montana country musician Austin Martin for a signing event at Tumbleweed.
“(We) come from a similar background of growing up in poverty and growing up in the hood, the ghetto, and dealing with poverty, and kind of growing up being an underprivileged kid ourselves," said Chingy, relating to the youth and young adults at Tumbleweed.
He is featured on Martin's latest track, 'Wrangler,' which, at the time of publishing, has more than 1.6 million listens on Spotify.
“If you have a tough time coming up, even in your youth, I think it's good to reach out (and) give these kids hope," said Martin about the event.
The two spent the weekend in Billings filming scenes for an upcoming music video.
“I got to thinking about it; I bet not one of our kids (has) ever been to a concert," said Georgia Caidy, executive director of Tumbleweed. "Our young people deserve everything that anybody else deserves.”
Martin and Chingy said they hope to be like their respective music heroes, Garth Brooks and Eazy-E, and provide the same spark they felt when they were inspired to become artists—something hardship threatens to take away from those at Tumbleweed.
“Their ability to laugh and enjoy and have fun, when we know they have to go out that door with their backpack on their back, not a penny to their name, and not knowing where they’re gonna put their head tonight or where they’re gonna go the minute they step out the door–I mean, talk about resilience," said Caidy.
