Vince Staples to headline 2019 A&O Ball

(Courtesy: Vince Staples’ Facebook page) Long Beach native Vince Staples will headline 2019’s A&O Ball.

Joshua Irvine, Copy Chief

Vince Staples will headline the 2019 A&O Ball, according to a Thursday news release.

The annual show, which will be held April 19 at Metro Chicago, will feature an opening performance from Atlanta-based singer and rapper Kodie Shane.

Previous headliners have included hip-hop artists Aminé, Jeremih and Ludacris as well as trap music producer Baauer, best known for the 2012 hit “Harlem Shake.” About 1,800 tickets were sold for 2016’s concert, which rap duo Rae Sremmurd headlined.

Staples, who was raised in the Ramona Park neighborhood of Long Beach, California, received critical acclaim for his 2015 debut “Summertime ’06,” the release said. He since has released four other albums, most recently 2018’s “FM!,” according to the release. His work post-“Summertime” addresses his adjustment to sudden fame and a lifestyle “antithetical to the one he’d known in Long Beach.”

“In a world of full of painful departures, his art gives listeners reason to believe that, somehow, as he advances, the people who have left him and the people who he’s left behind will still be waiting for him at the end,” the release said.

Shane, a member of rapper Lil Yachty’s Sailing Team crew, released her EP Little Rocket in 2016, and is preparing a second EP for later this year, according to the release. She has been featured in Fader, Vice, Complex and XXL.

Doors for A&O Ball will open at 6:30 p.m. on April 19. Shane will perform at 7:30 p.m. and Staples at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are free and can be reserved from Norris Box Office ahead of time. Bus transportation to and from the event will be provided.

A&O asked attendees to contact the organization to request accommodations.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the year Rae Sremmurd headlined. That concert was in 2016. 

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