Lil Yachty will headline this year’s fall concert, which also features Rob $tone and H.E.R. (Anton Mak/Flickr, Creative Commons)
Rapper Lil Yachty is headlining UConn’s fall concert, SUBOG announced on Facebook Wednesday.
Yachty will be joined by openers R&B singer H.E.R. and rapper Rob $tone at the Nov. 3 concert.
Yachty’s gained fame for his features on D.R.A.M.’s “Broccoli” and Kyle’s “iSpy” and his own song “One Night.” He dropped his debut studio album “Teenage Emotions” in May.
The 20-year-old rapper rounds out an overall young bill, along with 20-year-old H.E.R. and 22-year-old $tone.
There’s no question Yachty’s quick rise to fame has left a mark on pop culture. A quick Google search for “Lil Yachty” turns up a GQ article titled “We Should All Be Lil Yachty” and a FADER article titled “The Eternal Sunshine of Lil Yachty.” On top of that, he’s had interviews with everyone from the New York Times to Rolling Stone.
Adam Sherif, SUBOG concert chair, called the lineup a “bucket list” lineup and said SUBOG tried to book artists that would appeal to a wide range of students.
“I wouldn’t even say that artists go together phenomenally, but they bring people in,” Sherif said.
Sherif said $tone was booked for his appeal to mainstream listeners. The rapper’s song “Chill Bill” was certified double-platinum over the summer.
Sherif said students who listen to more organic music will like H.E.R. She is the first solo female artist booked for a UConn student concerts in years.
Ryan Banigan, SUBOG music relations chair for the concert committee, said one of the main goals of the concert committee was to book a female artist.
“We decided that it had been far too long since UConn had a female artist for one of our concerts,” Banigan said. “To solve that problem, we decided to book H.E.R., an up-and-coming artist that represents so much culture and power.”
Lil Yachty was booked because “he’s known for his music and as a person,” Sherif said. “There’s an artist for everyone.”
Banigan said the lineup is diverse musically and in each artist’s message and ideas.
“Rob $tone, H.E.R. and Lil Yachty all represent different styles, beliefs and cultures through the use of their lyrics and performances, which is why we thought this lineup would be just as entertaining as it is cultural and educational,” Banigan said.
In addition to their talent, both H.E.R. and $tone are dropping new music on Friday, giving them fresh songs to perform at fall concert, Sherif said.
Sherif said he felt the pressure to deliver a great fall concert after the cancelled spring concert last year, when rapper Lil Uzi Vert’s flight to Connecticut was cancelled due to bad weather.
“We had to think about expectations and we knew they were going to be high,” Sherif said. “We had to make up for what happened (with spring concert) and gain back a lot of trust.”
Sherif also said SUBOG’s concert planning process changed after the cancelled Uzi concert. Artists are required to be in Hartford the night before the concert and in Jorgensen before the concert begins.
Sherif said other artists considered for fall concert were Kehlani, SZA and Cardi B for the solo female spot, and Daniel Caesar and Khalid. Ultimately, money was not the only factor and scheduling conflicts arose too.
Sherif said he wants this fall concert to be something bigger than past fall concerts.
“I didn’t think it was feasible to do a low-key artist for fall, a low-key artist for winter, then come back in the spring,” Sherif said.
Tickets for fall concert can be bought at jorgensen.uconn.edu. Floor tickets are $30 and balcony seats are $20.
Schae Beaudoin is the life editor for The Daily Campus. She can be reached by email at schae.beaudoin@uconn.edu.
