About 250 Northwestern students gathered in the Louis Room at Norris University Center to hear the hip-hop duo of Pusha T and Malice, known together as Clipse, April 29. A&O Productions and For Members Only co-sponsored the event.
Tickets went on sale a week before the concert and were also sold at the door.
“We were only a couple tickets shy from selling out,” said Communication senior Stefanie Goliszewski, co-director of public relations for A&O. “Overall, it went even better than we expected.”
This was the first collaborative effort in recent years between A&O and FMO. Representatives from both groups said they hoped to work together to draw a wider audience to FMO’s annual spring show.
“A&O does a good job with behind the scenes, production and getting good artists,” said SESP junior Tyris Jones, president of FMO. “This is an annual program for us, so we just wanted to get the extra help making it a greater success.”
Weinberg junior Allison Zuzelo, director of concerts for A&O, said the groups could “play off of each other’s strong suits.”
“FMO could promote awareness for African-American culture,” she said, “whereas we could do promoting, producing and booking shows. It worked out really well.”
Clipse stuck to hits such as “Momma I’m So Sorry,” “I’m Good” and “Kinda Like a Big Deal,”which seemed to be well-received by the crowd. However, “Grindin'” was the song that got nearly all the audience singing along.
“I think Clipse has some really classic songs and it was good to hear them,” said Weinberg senior Dana Nickson. “They were songs you remember from your childhood.”
Weinberg sophomore Akshai Rajendran said he was “underwhelmed” by the crowd, which filled roughly half of the Louis Room, but thought the performance was good overall.
Brothers Pusha T and Malice have reportedly been performing together as a group since 1992. The group is multiplatinum and has three released albums in addition to one that is available only online.
“We thought now would be a really great time to catch them before they sort of got too big for us to bring into a show like this,” Zuzelo said.
Pusha T’s recent collaboration with Kayne West drew some to the concert, including Communication freshman Lindsay Barnett.
She said she’s been very happy with all of the A&O concerts she’s been to so far, and she attended this time because she likes Pusha T.
“I’m a big rap music fan, and my friend told me I had to see Clipse,” Barnett said.
However, audience member Austin Stevenson, who is more familiar with Clipse, said he was disappointed the group didn’t play all of the songs he wanted to hear.
“I thought it was kind of short,” the Communication senior said, “but I love Clipse so just seeing them live was amazing.”
The concert lasted for an hour and a half, and Clipse briefly stayed after to sign CDs and take pictures with students.
“It was a great show,” said Goliszewski, “you could look at the front row and see so many people singing along to their songs. Overall, it went wonderfully.”
