Photo credit: Nadia Felder
Florida A&M University’s (FAMU) homecoming concert has been known to be one of the homecoming highlights for students. Yet, this year’s show which featured two Atlanta-based rappers 21 Savage and 2 Chainz, received lukewarm reviews from students.
Many students, though they enjoyed the performances, were irritated by the time it took the headliners to hit the stage.
Destiny Edwards, a senior engineering student, believes the concert was nothing more than average. “I wasn’t hyped by the time [21 Savage] came out,” she said.
Doors were opened and concert-goers started filling the seats of the Al Lawson Multipurpose Center at 6:30 p.m.; 21 Savage did not begin his performance until 9:45 p.m. A large chunk of the time was spent on opening act performances. “By 10:00 p.m., I was drained,” Edwards added.
Senior pharmacy student Elexis Jones agrees that the opening acts were a bit excessive.
“[The concert] was worth it because $25 isn’t much to see two artists; there just should not have been 10 openers,” she said.
It has been five years since the FAMU Student Government Association (SGA) coordinated the concert in its entirety, according to current SGA Vice President Devin Harrison. As SGA VP, Harrison is automatically assigned the chair of homecoming. This means Harrison, along with the homecoming committee, has to put in hard work to ensure they please everyone: students, returning alumni, and the artists.
“We were responsible for booking the artist and getting them there on time, however 21 Savage’s plane was delayed,” said Harrison. “Since [21 Savage] arrival was delayed, it delayed 2 Chainz’s performance.”
Many students complained about the “late” entrance of the headliners, hoping the concert would make up for the wait, yet some still said they were unimpressed with the energy from the “Issa” young artist.
“Most people loved 2 Chainz’s performance. They were disappointed with 21 [Savage]. His performance was not engaging or interactive,” said Blaire Bishop, an intermission host.
During his performance, the Atlanta rapper stopped between songs to tell the sound crew to make adjustments to the speakers, claiming the music sounded “cheap as f—” in front of concert-goers.
Even with uncontrollable circumstances, SGA continues to be optimistic for next year’s homecoming concert.
“The crowd capacity could have been better, but it was still good to see the students engaged in the homecoming kickoff,” added Harrison.