Jackson Volenec — Reporter
The WSIN Radio Station held a SinFest, a semiannual hip-hop concert on Thursday, Oct. 18 in the Student Center ballroom open to all students and the general public to celebrate local culture acts in Connecticut.
“SinFest is this big concert that we throw during the fall semester hosted by WSIN. We get some local artists, hang out, it’s a great time, honestly,” said communications major Andrew Hans, a senior and the production director of the radio.
Local acts included Connecticut rapper Snowsa, a musician who is starting to gain traction in the world of mainstream hip-hop with artists such as Wiz Khalifa
acknowledging her work and expressing interest in collaboration on Twitter. This is the third time Snowsa came to SinFest to perform on campus.
With hip-hop being the most popular genre in mainstream music, WSIN members said they wanted to pick rappers in order to appeal to the widest audience of students and local music fans alike. There were some underground rock musicians in New Haven who had performed at past SinFest, but they did not attracted as much attention as rap artists.
“I’m just a person who likes to have fun and go with the flow, [I’m] easy going,” said Snowsa. “When WSIN reaches out I always want to come visit.”
Another musical act that performed was DJ Mula, who provided a DJ set before Snowsa’s performance. The set included mainstream as well as original content, and even featured a few original rap verses too.
Attendees were able to listen to the sets being provided musical acts, socialize and get food, or look at some of the streetwear that was also being sold at this event. In order to attract more students, WSIN also held a raffle.
“We’re hosting a raffle this time to try and get more people motivated to come to the concert. We want more students to show interest, especially,” said Hans. Although many students from Southern attended this concert, the event was open to the public, resulting in a large amount of the attendees from different areas in Connecticut such as New Haven, Bridgeport, and several other urban locations, celebrating the local music.
“SinFest was originally an event put on by the radio station to promote local artists in the area, but it’s evolved into more than that,” said IDS major DJ Johnson, a senior. “Now we’ve opened it up to local vendors. We’re trying to build a community vibe that reaches outside of just New Haven,”
As SinFest and the Connecticut hip-hop scene continued to grow and develop, there was an increase of interest in the event from outside the school’s student body and has expanded to the whole state.
“Thinking optimistically, I want this to be bigger than the SinFest last year,” Johnson said. “We want to get more students to come this year, the giveaway will probably help that.”
Photo credit: Izzy Manzo
