For this year’s Benefit Concert, A&O Productions is bringing Chicago artist Mick Jenkins to the stage. With a unique understanding and practice of hip-hop, Jenkins uses his lyricism to comment on humans and our connection to the world, as well as details of everyday human life and nature.

Jenkins’ Chicagoan upbringing from the age of 10 influences the topics he creates music about, and his early childhood in Huntsville, Alabama allows him to compare the environments he was once immersed in and write critically about the social issues that plague the nation.

Jenkins most recently released his EP The Circus last month. In the lead single “Carefree”, he raps about the life of Black males facing police discrimination while he wishes for space to breathe and simply live his life.

Jenkins has a way of inspiring his listeners through his art, including themes that seem simple but are essential in everyday life. For example, in one of his most popular tracks, “Jazz,” he says, “Drink more water… or you might die.” The comments on the music video joke about how the listeners needed that simple reminder to stay hydrated.

The concert’s proceeds will go to Supplies for Dreams, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing both academic and extracurricular opportunities for Chicago Public School system’s middle-school students. Supplies for Dreams was founded by two Northwestern University students back in 2008 and has been expanded to include chapters at the University of Chicago and Loyola University.

Tickets for the concert are $10 and will go live Monday at the NBO website. The show will be at Evanston SPACE (1245 Chicago Ave, Evanston) on Thursday, Feb. 27. Doors will open at 7 P.M. and the opening student performer’s set will start at 8 P.M. Jenkins’ headlining set will start 9 P.M. More details are available on A&O’s Facebook page.