Chapel Hill rapper Josh Hatch cuts tracks and hair

Josh Hatch doesn’t need much to feel at home.

“I’m an artist — my life is nomadic. As long as I have my clippers and music, I’m set.”

Hatch, known on stage as JadaBarber, is a rapper and barber new to Chapel Hill. 

He'll make his UNC Cypher debut tonight. 

During the day, he splits his time working at Great Clips and Franklin Street’s Who’s Next? Barber Shop. 

Rapping and cutting hair are two skills Hatch has been practicing for nearly two decades. 

“I’ve been cutting hair since I was 13,” he said. “It’s gotten me everything I’ve earned today. My haircutting skills are just as important as my music.”

Hatch said he caught the music bug from a close friend, Ron Brown, in their Charlotte high school.

"He taught me the art of writing music,” Hatch said. “We would practice just by rapping everything we said. It’s a way of life.”

Today, the two often collaborate and perform together. Brown, who goes by the stage name Ron BizzLe, said he and Hatch have a musical connection.

“You have to see it to believe it, the way we click,” he said. “We just mesh.”

Although Hatch comes to visit family and friends in Charlotte several times a month, Brown said some people just can’t wait until he comes back. 

“I know people who are going from Charlotte to Chapel Hill just so he can cut their hair again,” Brown said.

Moving around is a constant in Hatch’s life.

“My life is so unpredictable,” he said. “I can be in Chapel Hill one minute and Charlotte the next. The artist’s lifestyle is sporadic.”

In addition to changing locations, Hatch has held a variety of jobs. Last year, he worked as a dancer for the Carolina Panthers. Before that, he was a medical assistant. 

But he said they were jobs — not careers. 

“I could have kept doing it,” he said. “But it’s not what I’m passionate about.”

Hatch said given his hectic life, there is never a shortage of inspiration for songwriting. 

“Whatever I’m going through at the time, that’s what I write about,” he said. “My life is really something else, so I have a lot of material.”

Hatch said one unique part about his music is that it’s free of curse words. 

“I took a vow,” he said. “It’s not because I don’t like cuss words. I just want people to be able to play my music whenever and wherever they want. A lot of people don’t even realize I don’t cuss. There are plenty of other ways I get my message across.”

So far, Hatch has only released one album. But he said he has enough songs for two or three. 

“I’ve been storing them up,” he said. “I want to wait for the right time. I want to give the public a taste bit by bit.”

Hatch plans to debut some of his songs with the UNC Cypher. The group performs every Wednesday at 9:15 p.m. in the Pit.

Josh Rowsey, founder of the Cypher, said he predicts this semester will be one of growth for the group.

“When I started it in November 2014, it was really just me,” he said. “Now it’s turned into a campus movement.”

Rowsey said the Cypher has grown to 25 performers, and sometimes their audience reaches 100 people.

“It’s a place for free expression where people are able to use their talents. Rap has been the most prominent style, but we have singers and poets, too.”

Even though Hatch is new to the area, Rowsey said people will be excited to see him. 

“Any new talent that performs authentically is received very well,” he said.

Hatch said he plans to go for the first time tonight.

But although he’s settled in Chapel Hill for now, he said he doesn’t know how long he’ll stay.

“Successful people do what unsuccessful people aren’t willing to do,” he said. “If that means I have to move around to make it work, then that’s what I’ll do. If an opportunity comes up in New York or L.A., I’ll be there.” 

arts@dailytarheel.com