Diane Lazarus – Special to the Southern News
Word around campus is that up and coming west coast rapper Sage the Gemini and supporting artist IamSu will be performing at SCSU for the spring concert. Some students are ecstatic and on the other hand some are disappointed. “He only has three songs!” “How long will he be on stage-five minutes?” numerous students posted on twitter.
Last spring, Eric LaCharity the event coordinator of ProCon, a club within SCSU designed to plan energetic experiences for students to participate in, booked Big Sean, a popular rapper. However, this spring he booked Sage the Gemini, an upcoming rapper that people are hesitant about.
Sophomore Valencia McKoy said “Going from Big Sean to Sage Gemini is a big downgrade.” All in all many students feel the same way. LaCharity gives further details on the dramatic price difference between Big Sean and Sage the Gemini, saying that this year’s performer is 20% less than last year’s, possibly because of the decrease in enrollment.
“We could’ve had someone with more songs to perform”, said Khadijah Scharborough. LaCharity response to students concerns and complaints are it was “the right artist for the right price, of what we could afford this year.” He explains that the cost for the artist is a factor as well as timing and popularity. Sage the Gemini is scheduled to perform for approximately sixty minutes and introducing new songs from his upcoming album.
Sage the Gemini has two popular songs “Gas Pedal” and Rednose”, also a feature with good friend D-Mac on “Panoramic”. According to BET.com Sage the Gemini is one of the top five people to watch in the year of 2014. Nevertheless some SCSU students are still not satisfied with ProCon’s decision.
With Hip Hop and R&B being the popular genre amongst young adults, some students understand ProCon’s decision to introduce new affordable artists such as Sage the Gemini. Dom Pascorrella, a senior, thinks that SCSU has been sticking to the hip-hop genre. “I think that Hip Hop is one of the best genres, and caters to New Haven being an urban environment.” Sophomore, Kebrianna Winchester said “The genre’s fine, because it’s most popular, and I’ll go regardless just for the hype of it.” Although some students would value if SCSU would switch up the genre each year like Tayler Keefe, who says she would attend if it was not the same thing every year.
With tickets only being five dollars, one would assume students would be excited about the concert yet attending the spring concert is not on many people’s agenda. Deanna Dias, a sophomore said “Commuters don’t know about it until it has already happened.” She says it is very inconvenient to travel back to school on the weekend, and promotion of the concert is not targeted towards commuters. LaCharity explains that promotions so far are flyers and are displayed on the flat screens throughout the Adanti Student Center. Promotion will increase when the date gets closer.
ProCon understands all students have their own preferences but all cannot be met. “We just want the students to have a show that’s enjoyable and affordable, and based on his former performances it will be.” said Lacharity. LaCharity then provided further details about Gemini’s past performances at other colleges. and Sage receiving all but negative feedback. The spring concert will be held Saturday, April 12 in the academic quad.
