Young Thug will headline SPEC–TRUM and GAPSA’s spring concert on April 5th.
His album Jeffrey was released to critical acclaim in August 2016. “We’re really excited,” SPEC-TRUM (The University of Pennsylvania's Social Planning and Events Committee to Represent Undergraduate Minorities) Co–director Olivia Nelson says. “He’s one of the biggest names in the entire music scene, not just rap and hip-hop.”
Jonathan Muruako, SPEC–TRUM Co–director, notes “this is probably the first artist that we’ve brought who’s already in their prime.”
This concert marks the first time SPEC–TRUM has collaborated with GAPSA, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, for programming. De Shaun Bennett, GAPSA Chair for Student Activities, says that this year, the organization is “focused on bridging the gap between undergrad and grad students.”
A mutual friend connected Bennett with SPEC–TRUM co-director Stephanie Hodges after he expressed interest in planning a concert. According to Hodges, the friend “told De Shaun that I’m in a group that plans concerts. I told Olivia and Muruako and we had a meeting to plan a show.”
Hodges emphasizes, “we were only able to do this because we collabed with [GAPSA.]”
The spring show is part of a larger effort on SPEC–TRUM’s part to increase their presence on campus. Other events this year have included Drake and Skate night, a trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC and an event during Feb Club.
“Directors of previous years have always taught us the importance of trying something new,” Nelson says. “We’re continuing in that spirit of innovation and we’re hoping that this [concert] is something that will be sustainable in the future generations of SPEC–TRUM and GAPSA.”
Last year, SPEC–TRUM was forced to cancel their spring show because both artists canceled the day of the concert.
While the fall show featuring D.R.A.M was held in the Rotunda, Young Thug will be playing at the more spacious World Cafe Live— the “biggest venue we can get that’s closest to campus,” says Hodges. The venue hosts 600 people, and tickets are expected to sell out quickly.
Tickets are available online and on Locust Walk beginning Tuesday March 28th. Prices are $15 for students and $30 for the general public.
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