Rich the Kid performs at Student Programming Council's Homecoming concert held on McDonough Field on Oct. 14. (Jack Rutherford/Staff Photographer)
Fivio Foreign, Rich the Kid and Baby Tate arrived at McDonough Field straight from the “City of Gods” on Oct. 14 for Student Programming Council’s (SPC) annual Homecoming concert. Following popular guests from previous semesters such as Jack Harlow, Flo Rida and Dominic Fike, SPC had a lot to live up to for one of the most highly-anticipated school-sponsored events of the semester.
Students gathered together on McDonough Field as the evening began, marking the midway point of the fall semester with SPC’s biannual concert. This year’s lineup garnered mixed responses from students. Some complained that they did not recognize the three artists chosen, while others expressed excitement about the lineup.
“I’m just excited to be here with my friends, and I think it should be a fun night,” Phoebe Hyde (26C) said.
This event drew 2,044 students, according to SPC President Anna Sotirescu (24C), a significantly-smaller crowd than SPC’s spring Flo Rida concert, which garnered 3,750 attendees.
Baby Tate hit the stage 20 minutes after her scheduled start time, donning a baby-blue dress and a contagiously-positive attitude. Despite a small crowd, she did not let the lack of people stop her from delivering an electric performance. Students embodied the idea of quality over quantity; the fans who were present displayed tremendous energy and support for the singer.
“Baby Tate was perfect for this,” Jonah Singer (27C) said. “I think she’s killing it tonight … I am twelve-out-of-ten happy with Baby Tate tonight.”
Beyond providing the musical guests, SPC offered students free food‚ including fan-favorite Insomnia Cookies, and a live DJ to keep everyone entertained between artist performances.
More students arrived during Baby Tate’s set, showing increasing spirit with louder cheering and more singing as she went through her setlist. However, not all students were as enthusiastic with her performance.
“The crowd size is quite unfortunate,” Daniel Ren (24B) said. “Exceeded [my expectations] because I had low ones — I’m not gonna sugarcoat it.”
Despite some negative reviews, Baby Tate got many in the crowd dancing when she sang her viral TikTok hit, “I Am” (2020), and showcased her true performing ability with her most famous song, “Hey, Mickey!” (2016). The artist delivered her songs with confidence and charisma, to a point that the crowd emanated the passion of a large music festival, and her performance showcased her star factor and ability to capture an audience while simultaneously rocking the stage.
Jack Rutherford/Staff Photographer
Yet, Baby Tate was just the beginning of a great night of performances. When students heard the opening lines of “New Freezer” (2017) an hour later, the energy was palpable, and Rich the Kid immediately took the spotlight. While he is known for his catchy hits, like “Plug Walk” (2018), the rapper gave students an especially unique experience with a special announcement.
“I have a new album coming out soon,” he told the crowd, who erupted in cheers at this news while the artist began to sing one of his upcoming unreleased tracks.
Following Baby Tate’s delayed start, all the other artists performed in a timely manner — each set lasting about an hour. Headliner Fivio Foreign finally took the stage 15 minutes past his expected start time to begin his highly-anticipated performance. The artist proved his top spot in the lineup as he performed tracks on which he collaborated with some of the world’s most successful performers, including Drake and Kanye West.
Hundreds of students formed mosh pits in the center of the field during Baby Tate’s performance, dancing along to his upbeat lyrics. The show was taken to a new level, as the crowd had grown greatly from the beginning of the night.
“Open it up,” Fivio Foreign chanted. This communication between the artist and the crowd only boosted the intensity of the performance.
Despite a palpable crowd energy, students went even more wild when Fivio Foreign brought out Matthew DeLuca (27C), known by his artist name Lil Mabu, as a special guest. The inclusion of the student rapper elicited loud cheers from the audience.
While some of us may be used to seeing Lil Mabu in the classroom, it quickly became obvious that the stage is where he belongs. Lil Mabu confidently sang his hit “MATHEMATICAL DISRESPECT” with his peers shouting the words along with him as he showed off his impressive dance moves. Despite being hours into the concert, the crowd maintained their high energy.
Yet, the surprises did not end there. Fivio Foreign then brought Rich the Kid back out to sing “Richer Than Ever” together.
“Old friends like ‘Fivi we should be sticking together,’” they sang, adding a wholesome touch to the night.
While the artists chosen this semester may not have been well-known to all students, their high-energy performances proved that this was not necessarily a bad thing.
“You know, I came to the concert not a huge Rich the Kid fan,” Charles Fine (27C) said. “But after this excellent performance, I have to say that I now love him.”
This concert highlighted the benefits of open-mindedness, as the students received as much energy from the performers as they were willing to give out, setting them up for an electric experience.
