Written by Melissa Karen Sances
Photos by Nikki Gardner

Sponsored by Valley Home Improvement

Published in Northampton Living (August 2023)

In Northampton’s heyday, the city pulsed with music. Main Street was a treasure map for aspiring performers and loyal fans, a trail of gold coins from the Iron Horse to the Pearl Street Nightclub to the Calvin Theatre. And with a built-in support system for bands, there was bounty aplenty for everyone.

Garrick Perry, better known as “Force,” arrived on the scene in the early 2000s. He joined the local hip hop/reggae band the Alchemystics in 2004 and formed a group of MCs called the Problemaddicts two years later. Soon he began managing Bishop’s Lounge – the only late-night venue that remains open in Northampton – a bar he envisioned as the city’s “Cheers.”

“I spent a lot of time community building,” he explains. “A number of friends joked that I was sort of like the Night Mayor.”

Perry never saw himself actually entering politics. But when the pandemic changed the nature of entertainment in Northampton, shuttering venues one by one, he realized something humbling: “There’s only so much you can do from a stage.”

In the sixth grade he started rapping. Perry and a friend announced their upcoming rendition of Bell Biv DeVoe’s 1990 hit “Poison” with a handwritten flyer posted at school. He recently found it while going through items at his childhood home in Washington, D.C. “It’s both the best artifact that I’ve found from my career, and also the most cringey,” he says with a laugh. 

As a freshman in high school, his history presentations – about the Age of Reform and William Howard Taft – were original raps. A friend gave him the nickname “G-Force.” He would shorten it to “Force,” adopting it as his stage name and primary identity. 

In 1997 Perry moved to the Valley to attend Amherst College, where he double-majored in English and psychology, while being sure to write a paper on hip hop each semester. When he graduated in 2001, “I found myself not knowing exactly what path to take,” he says. “There’s no how-to-be-a-rapper curriculum.” Through a friend, he booked a local show. Then he began organizing entertainment while working at Union Station in Northampton. He performed his own verses at various karaoke nights, and started a hip-hop night at Silent Cal’s. Perry noticed that rappers like Nellie and Ghostface Killah wore signature items like a band-aid and a golden eagle, so he created his own signature piece: a large tag he would attach by string to his pants. On the tag he’d write “an analog version of a Facebook status,” which he would update daily. Much to his mother’s chagrin, he’s sported a tag to shows, weddings, church, and most recently, City Council meetings.  

By 2021, when Perry’s gigs had slowed considerably due to the pandemic, he started to think about effecting large-scale change by entering local politics. First he consulted with two former city councilors, who warned him that if he ran, he would give up his privacy: He wouldn’t even be able to go to the grocery store unnoticed. As a public performer and a loquacious word nerd, he quickly dismissed that concern. When he ran the idea by his partner Stephanie and his daughters Logan and Cailyn, who were 11 and 8 at the time, his youngest had one question: “Does this mean you’re going to talk to even more people?” 

Ultimately, they all supported his running. And fans who had come to expect Force’s raps about hope and “fighting the system” were excited to endorse him. When Perry was elected in 2021, he says, “It unified me into this, just … force.”

For the City Councilor of Ward 4, entertainment is the lifeblood of the community. “The populations that inspire me are the service industry workers and the arts folks,” he says. “If you don’t have anything for them to do at night, they’re not going to want to work here. And if we don’t provide social outlets or community for younger folks who are here through the 5 Colleges, they’re not going to want to stay here.”

Perry believes that arts and culture can help heal societal rifts, particularly after the “forced separation caused by Covid.” He has hope for a resurgence, thanks to an administration that is working hard to provide outdoor spaces for entertainment through a multipronged, multi-organization initiative called the Vibrancy Project.

As one of two Black councilors in Northampton, Perry is also committed to fostering an accepting community that attracts a diverse population. He has plans for various cultural events for underrepresented populations, as well as a pop-up putt-putt tour of the city.

As he devotes himself to night life by day, he continues to be a Force at night. The Alchemystics played Strange Creek last May; he just accepted a position as general manager of Jackalope in Springfield, where he will recruit live entertainment; and soon, he’ll release his first solo album. 

“You can vote for me and then listen to my silly ramblings,” he jokes. “In fact, I have a song on there called ‘Night Mayors.’”