The rapper Vic Mensa will be the headliner for the personal checks concert Thursday.
The p-checks concert, which has been cancelled for the last two years because of inclement weather, was moved from the Card Lot to inside Page Auditorium this year due to anticipated rain. The artist was announced on the Facebook event page Wednesday afternoon by senior Tyler Lawrence, chair of Duke University Union’s campus concerts committee. The artist announcement came a little more than 24 hours before the performance, which Lawrence wrote in an email was due to contract negotiations.
“We wanted someone who was both genuinely talented and energetic and felt that Mensa would be able to hype up the crowd,” Lawrence wrote.
The p-checks concert is a main component of p-checks, the final aspect of the tenting process for students spending nights in K-ville. Individuals must complete personal checks to earn wristbands so they can enter Cameron Indoor Stadium before Saturday's game against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Mensa—who is signed to rapper Jay Z’s label Roc Nation—will be playing at the Governor’s Ball Music Festival in New York and performed during "Saturday Night Live’s" 40th anniversary special with Kanye West and Sia. Rolling Stone magazine profiled Mensa last year, noting that, like West, the 22-year-old rapper grew up on Chicago’s South Side.
“We continued to pursue this year’s goal of bringing artists to campus who are both on the rise and who are different from most artists we’ve previously had perform,” Lawrence wrote. “The committee felt that Vic Mensa fit this mission perfectly.”
Lawrence wrote that unlike in past years, the committee developed a contingency plan in case of inclement weather.
“Although not ideal, we felt that at least having some sort of concert to get students excited for the upcoming basketball game against UNC would be better than having no show at all,” Lawrence wrote.
Currently, the concert is scheduled to begin at 8:15 p.m. and will conclude before personal checks begin at 11 p.m.
Senior Tajj Badil-Abish—known by his stage name as DJ YaBish—will open for Mensa.
“[He] has played many student events both on and off campus and is really good at what he does as evidenced by the number of events he is asked to DJ,” Lawrence wrote. “We wanted to highlight student talent as we did for our previous show, which seemed to be popular with students.”
Although some students were not familiar with the artist, they still expressed excitement for the concert.
“I hadn't really listened to Vic Mensa before the announcement, but after hearing a few of his songs, I'm actually pretty excited,” said senior Cody Parrott, who is white tenting.
Others were more familiar with Mensa, but had reservations about Page Auditorium.
“I first heard "Down on my Luck" by Vic Mensa last spring and became kind of obsessed with it, so I was very excited to hear the announcement," sophomore Diana Joseph said. "I went to the Borns concert in Page and it wasn't as lively as it could have been if it were in a more open venue. I wish the p-checks concert could still be outside but I understand that because of the rain that wouldn't be feasible or pleasant.”
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