Rap Campp 2 and the Making of Hen House Forum

Put enough talented people in a room, give them something to build together, and the work can outgrow the original plan. For Cooley the Curator and Don Johnson, that room was on a farm in Springfield, Ohio. The plan was Rap Campp. Across two marathon recording projects, the relationships taking shape there helped establish the foundation of Hen House Forum.

Hen House Forum was formed to release the two albums. What followed expanded its purpose: 11 additional releases from members of the community those sessions brought together. Looking back at Rap Campp Vol. 2, that growth gives the album another dimension. It captures a gathering that helped make an ongoing creative operation possible.

The groundwork began with Rap Campp Vol. 1, released on Bandcamp on January 5, 2025. Hosted and produced by Johnson and Cooley, the project emerged from a 24-hour studio marathon. Its 12 tracks brought Ohio emcees into shared creative space, with artists including Jeremy Street, Mxntis, Young Reese Dude, Awful Lee, K. Carter, and P The Emcee appearing across different combinations. The album’s accompanying statement set an ambition to connect hip-hop artists throughout Ohio. (Rap Campp Vol. 1)

The first session also changed the organizers’ expectations. Speaking with Greg Simms Jr. for WYSO, Cooley explained that they would have been satisfied with enough material for an EP. They left with a full-length album. Artists who hadn’t participated soon began asking about another installment.

That response mattered. There was interest in the music, but there was also interest in participating in the process that produced it. Rap Campp had given people a reason to work together, and the invitation was gaining momentum.

For the second session, Cooley and Johnson expanded the cast and brought in a documentary crew. According to Cooley’s WYSO interview, recording ran almost continuously from around 11 a.m. until 1 a.m. the following morning. The producers had put more thought into potential artist-and-beat pairings, but participants still arrived without having heard the instrumentals. Writing and collaboration had to happen there, together. (WYSO’s interview with Cooley)

Released June 8, 2025, Rap Campp Vol. 2 stretched the idea across 19 tracks and three generations of lyricists. “Smoke Again” joined Cas Metah, Natural Onyx, and Jay-Vez. “Dayton Soul” brought together Saint Steve, Cas Metah, Steven Earnest, Picket Fence, and Illwin. Those credits illustrate how the project placed different artists inside a shared body of work. (Rap Campp Vol. 2)

The credits also make room for the people feeding everyone, handling visuals, assisting production, and supporting the session. That labor belongs in the story. A gathering this ambitious depends on people creating the conditions for artists to keep working.

The clearest evidence of Rap Campp’s importance to Hen House Forum arrived afterward.

Chete Blaque and Don Johnson’s Vendetta, released in August 2025, explicitly traces its beginnings to a friendship formed at the first Rap Campp. T.Hunt and Johnson’s Thinking Aloud, released that October, likewise identifies the initial sessions as its starting point. These were relationships that continued producing music after the marathon ended. (Vendetta, Thinking Aloud)

The second gathering had its own afterlife. Chete Blaque and Seth Rock formed Slanguage in the aftermath of Rap Campp 2, eventually releasing their self-titled project in April 2026. That connection makes the larger story tangible: a session leads to a partnership, and that partnership develops into another record. (Slanguage)

Across those 12 additional releases, Hen House Forum gained a broader purpose through the people making music around it. The first two Rap Campp albums supplied a working foundation: shared sessions, new relationships, and reasons to return.

That is what makes Rap Campp Vol. 2 worth revisiting. Its significance extends into the records that came after it. Cooley and Johnson organized a place for Ohio artists to create together. The artists kept building ... and Hen House Forum grew with them.