Colleen Coleman-
On Friday, April 19th, 2024, the Campus Activities Board hosted the NLE Choppa concert in Lund Center. Gusties, friends, and more came from all over to St. Peter to see the rapper perform, packing the Don Roberts Ice Rink to kick off the spring weekend. DJ Kam Bennett opened for the rapper, starting out the night with some good music.
What started with a survey sent to students at the end of September ended up being a night of music, excitement, and entertainment. Throughout the year, CAB has been working hard to organize contracts, marketing and promotion, security, and much more. After being voted on by the student body, when the performer was announced around February Gusties were already buzzing with excitement for the concert. CABbies keeping the artist a secret made it even more suspenseful for the student body.
“For me, it was fun to watch everyone have an amazing time at the concert, and it showed all of our hard work [paid] off for everyone to enjoy themselves,” CAB Everyday Activities Executive and First-year Rae Holwerda said. “People drove far and wide for it, I know people who came from my hometown to come to see him, almost 2 hours away,” Holwerda said.
With the release of his latest single earlier this month, Gusties were excited to hear it performed for the first time live. NLE Choppa has had many songs reach the Billboard Hot 100 in the past, reaching #25 on the Billboard Artist 100 in 2020 according to the music publication company. “It was fun when he played his more well-known songs and people were screaming the lyrics. Sometimes the music would stop and it would just be the crowd screaming the words to the song, it was definitely one of my favorite parts,” First-year concert attendee Emily Jacobs said.
While it may seem odd for a famous rapper to come to a small-town liberal arts college in southern Minnesota, NLE Choppa has been known to perform on college campuses. Having regularly performed at colleges, it’s clear that students relate to the 21-year-old rapper’s music. His 2023 tour entitled the “NLE University Tour” was held on college campuses all around the United States, such as the University of Maine, Michigan State University, Georgia Tech, and many more. Although never going to college himself, NLE connects with audiences around his age. “It would’ve been beautiful to have a college experience. I would’ve gone to an HBCU for sure. I don’t regret not having a college experience and I’m still young enough to go back,” NLE Choppa in a 2023 interview said.
While CAB worked hard to put on the event, there was lots of help from Gusties and student organizations volunteering before, during, and after the concert. Through volunteering, Gusties had the opportunity to not only get complimentary tickets to the show, and funding for their student organizations but also to meet NLE Choppa himself afterward. Especially with this being the first big spring concert hosted since the pandemic, Gusties were eager to hear the rapper perform.
CAB’s hard work on hosting NLE Choppa’s concert this past week was clear to all Gusties and friends who attended. Through their work promoting, organizing, and planning this large-scale event, CAB was able to create a night full of entertainment and enjoyment for the greater Gustavus community.