R&B singer H.E.R. will be performing at UConn’s fall concert, SUBOG announced on Facebook Monday.
H.E.R. is joining rapper Rob $tone on the bill for fall concert.
The singer churns out laid-back R&B in the vein of SZA and Majid Jordan.
H.E.R. is shrouded in mystery; as a matter of fact, she does that by design. There are no press photos of her (an internet search turns up photos of the singer backlit or wearing sunglasses) and she performs in ambient blue lighting, not under a spotlight. Her album covers feature only her silhouette. Even her identity has yet to be confirmed, though the Internet’s determined the singer to be 20-year-old Gabi Wilson.
H.E.R. told NPR Music she chooses to stay out of the spotlight because she wants listeners to focus on her music, not her personal life.
“I really just wanted it to be about the music, and get away from, ‘Who is she with?’ and ‘What is she wearing?’” H.E.R. said.
Adam Sherif, SUBOG concert chair, said booking H.E.R. was a no-brainer.
“It was on our bucket list to book a solo female artist,” Sherif said, adding that it’s been years since a female artist was booked for a student concert on campus.
Sherif praised the singer’s musical ability as well, saying SUBOG likes to book artists they believe are “on the brink” of stardom.
“Her name isn’t very known and her music isn’t very known, but she has quality music… It’s all real and natural,” Sherif said.
Milcah Sajous, SUBOG concert community development chair, said the announcement video was designed to highlight the importance of women on campus, as well as the significance of booking the first female artist for a student concert in years. The video features Undergraduate Student Government president Irma Valverde and basketball player Gabby Williams, among other prominent women leaders on campus.
“The importance [of the announcement video] was really two fold, one to show UConn that we have a female artist and two that we have some really dope and awesome women on our own campus,” Sajous said in an email.
Presale tickets for fall concert are on sale now at jorgensen.uconn.edu. Floor tickets are $15 and balcony tickets are $10. After presale ends on Wednesday, tickets will be $30 for floor and $20 for balcony.
Schae Beaudoin is the life editor for The Daily Campus. She can be reached by email at schae.beaudoin@uconn.edu.
