Southern Hospitality
Staff Photographer ||
Ludacris kicks his leg into the air as he performs for fans on Sunday in McGuirk Arena.
The students poured in and the fog poured out of McGuirk Arena, Sunday Sept. 28, as focus waited to see Ludacris perform. Doors opened at 7p.m. for this free concert, but the show didn’t really start until almost 8:30pm.
The concert was put on by the CMU Program Board and was ran by students. Ludacris was chosen due to a poll where he had the second largest amount of votes. The winner vote was not available for a show and Ludacris was supposedly dropping a new album this previous summer but did not because of his work as an actor.
“I was kind of surprised that Ludacris was performing, but I like his music,” sophomore Brittany Edwards said. “My favorite song ever is probably ‘Blueberry Yum Yum.’”
Due to Ludacris’s music hiatus, a lot of students weren’t as excited as the board hoped for, which caused the tickets to become free for students. The Office of Student Activities and Involvement and the Program Board handed out all the remaining tickets to studentsand easily reimbursed students who purchased tickets.
Josh Palmer, president of the Program Board, came to the decision to book a hip hop artist such as Ludacris because students wanted to bring back Hip Hop Week, a lost tradition at CMU.
“We are very excited to kick off homecoming week and finish off the return of Hip Hop Week with this concert. It’s been a great way to engage with students this past week and the coming week,” Palmer said.
When deciding which act to bring for the concert, Program Board made a poll and Ludacris was the second most wanted artist according to the list. Since Ludacris was available, Program Board booked him, Palmer said.
Ludacris was poised to release a new album, "Ludaversal," over the summer, but the album did not materialize. The album is slated for a November release. The first opening act, K-Camp, had to cancel due to a break in contract, which had little to do with CMU's show, Palmer added. Program Board decided to give tickets out for free to kick off homecoming and get students pumped that couldn't pay for it originally.
However, the move failed to fill the arena, leaving a majority of the floor area empty.
Ludacris came on stage at around 9pm and started with a few old hits like ‘Act a Fool’, ‘What’s Your Fantasy?’ and ‘Pimpin’ All Over the World’. People of all ages were there, chanting Ludacris’s name. Some students were die-hard fans, while others just came to have a good time.
“I was just really excited for Ludacris because he’s a big name artist with tons of hits,” freshman Laine Hettel said. “I’m not a huge fan but I love hip hop and I was pumped to hear about this big name concert.”
Students who attended the concert or students that just want to get involved can go to the Program Board’s page on OrgSync and fill out the campus survey or take one of their public polls.
