Shake your money maker, Northwestern. Ludacris will headline Saturday’s A&O Ball.
Known for songs such as “My Chick Bad” and “Money Maker,” Chris “Ludacris” Bridges headlined a sold-out A&O Ball in 2009 at Northwestern’s Patten Gym. This year, he will perform for students at Chicago’s Riviera Theatre, A&O Productions announced tonight.
“While he’s coming to Northwestern again, we see it as a new, fresh experience for 99 percent of Northwestern students,” A&O concerts director Justin Lehmann said.
Since then, the rapper has appeared in “Fast Five,” the most recent film in “The Fast and the Furious” series, and has launched a line of headphones. His next album, “Ludaversal,” is expected this year.
A&O officials said Ludacris brings both the perfect music for the event’s “big party” atmosphere and name recognition among NU students.
“We want it to be a party,” said outgoing A&O chairman Logan Koepke, a Weinberg senior. “We want it to be a kick-ass show.”
The show will start at 8 p.m. with Atlanta-based rap collective Two-9.
Two-9’s work with artists such as Ludacris and 2012 Dillo Day performer Kendrick Lamar, whom Lehmann called “the two ends” of hip-hop, gives the group credibility, he said.
Complex magazine also called Two-9 one of its “10 Atlanta Rappers to Watch Out For” in September.
Lehmann, a Weinberg senior, called selecting Ludacris and Two-9 an example of “routing a show.” Both artists will go on tour together, he explained, so stopping for a NU performance fits well into their schedules.
Tickets are $10 and will be available 10:30 a.m. Monday through the Norris Box Office website. Shuttles will be provided to and from the Riviera Theatre.
— Manuel Rapada
