If you didn’t attend A&O Production’s Blowout concert on Oct. 11, you heard it here first — Rico Nasty just got a cat.
Along with learning her pet-owning status, attendees of this year’s Blowout in the Welsh-Ryan Arena enjoyed a three-hour concert featuring three artists: student opener Perl, hip-hop collective Grouptherapy, and headliner Rico Nasty.
Communication junior Sequina King was one of the first to start lining up for the free, student-exclusive event. As a longtime Rico Nasty and Grouptherapy fan, King said she looked forward to hearing some of her favorite songs, including “Countin’ Up” by Rico Nasty and “FUNKFEST” by Grouptherapy.
“Both of them are kind of punk rock, pop-ish, and I like that early 2000s kind of vibe,” King said.
The doors opened at 7 p.m. with A&O’s student opener Perl — Medill freshman Jared Perlmutter — already onstage. Manning the DJ deck, which he normally plays in his dorm room, Perl mixed some crowd favorites, ranging from an edit of “Smooth Operator” by Sade and his own bootleg of “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees.
“My goal was to mix in some pop songs and some disco with house because that’s my favorite thing ever,” Perl said.
Perl debuted two original songs, including one that he completed in his dorm room just a few days prior. He plans to release his song “Never Letting You Go” (ft. Chloe Jane) in late November on Spotify and Apple Music.
The theme of playing unreleased music continued with the next opening act, Grouptherapy, a Los Angeles-based group starring artists SWIM and Jadagrace. As the duo danced around the stage, they performed a range of songs from the slower, slinky beat of “TrunkPoppers.com” to the faster, heart-pumping beats of “FUNKFEST,” which had audience members waving their hands back and forth.
Grouptherapy ended their set around 8:40 p.m., but not before they pumped up the crowd for the last performer, Rico Nasty.
“When I say ‘Rico’ you say ‘Nasty’!” SWIM yelled. “Rico!” “Nasty!” the audience cheered.
Rico performed her first set of songs at an unrelenting pace, strutting along the stage in her all-black ensemble, an outfit she described as “tea.”
With the bass turned up so high the arena’s bleachers were audibly vibrating, Rico performed several songs, including “OHFR?”, “STFU” and “H.O.T.” — acronyms galore! — straight through, pausing only to read the song requests students had typed out on their phones and were holding up for her to see. To Rico’s faux dismay, the crowd requested her hit song, “Smack A Bitch.”
After her energetic set, Rico took a beat to chat with the rowdy crowd.
“I’m gonna leave my gum here in case anyone wants it. I know some of you are freaky like that,” she said. “Goodnight!”
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