Flo Milli, Dreamer Isioma bring in the party at A&O Ball
May 9, 2022
When Weinberg sophomore Lahari Ramini walked into Metro Chicago on Thursday night, she didn’t expect to end up on stage dancing with a well-known rapper. But while Flo Milli played her 2022 single “PBC” at the 2022 A&O Ball concert, that was exactly what Ramini did.
On Thursday, A&O Productions hosted its annual Ball concert at Metro Chicago. The concert featured Flo Milli as the headliner, with Dreamer Isioma as the opening act and Vitamin K as the opening DJ. The concert was free to all students and buses were provided to and from the venue.
Communication sophomore Kay Cui, who goes by the stage name Vitamin K, opened the event. Cui, who is on A&O’s marketing team, said someone on the concerts committee saw her perform at a house party and invited her to perform at the Ball.
Only four months into her DJ career, Cui said A&O Ball was the biggest crowd for which she’d performed.
“I could DJ for like three hours, and it feels like one,” Cui said. “Even though it was a little bit nerve-racking at times, I also was really grateful and appreciative to have so many of my friends supporting me there.”
After Cui’s set, she headed into the crowd to watch Dreamer Isioma’s set and ended up on the second floor balcony. As her only A&O duty that night was her DJ set, Cui said she could fully enjoy the night afterward.
While Ramini said she wasn’t necessarily a “super fan” of Flo Milli before the concert, she was familiar with the music and was excited for the energy Flo Milli would bring.
“A lot of people were busy because it was a Thursday night,” Ramini said, “I had a lot to do too, but I made time for it because I thought it was super exciting.”
Ramini made it to the front barricade by the time Dreamer Isioma was on stage. About 30 minutes before Flo Milli’s set started, Ramini said she saw an A&O member start marking people’s hands. Unsure of what it meant, she stuck her hand out.
The member gave her instructions for when and where she should go, and she ended up meeting Flo Milli before dancing with her on stage with about 15 other audience members.
“One thing that I loved about her is like immediately, she would take people’s phone and … take pictures,” Ramini said. “I thought that was so cool. She was actually in my BeReal (that night).”
Ramini said going into the concert, she was particularly excited to hear “In The Party” — a song the rapper ended up closing the show with and performed not once, but twice.
Medill sophomore Elisabeth Betts said she was impressed when she heard A&O booked Flo Milli. Betts said she enjoyed the relatively small venue, as it allowed her to get close, about three to four rows from the barricade, without feeling too hectic.
She said she appreciated both Flo Milli’s and Dreamer Isioma’s stage presences, who brought energy to the crowd in different ways.
“I was really excited when I heard Flo Milli,” Betts said. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, like how could Northwestern book somebody this big?’ WILLOW blew my mind as well (at A&O Blowout), so A&O just did it again, honestly.”
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @AudreyHettleman
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