Grammy-nominated rapper Wale will be performing at Troy University next month.
The rap artist from Largo, Maryland, is being featured as the main act for the homecoming concert on Oct. 16.
Wale, 30, is a Nigerian-American rap artist who has seen international success, winning the award for “Best International Artist” at the Nigeria Entertainment awards in 2014.
His single “Lotus Flower Bomb” brought him national attention when he won the “Best Collaboration” award for it at the BET awards in 2012. The song was also nominated for “Best Rap Song” at the 2013 Grammy Awards.
The University Activities Council, or UAC, began planning Wale’s concert at the end of last year.
Khadijah Torbert, a senior broadcast journalism and business marketing double major from Opelika, and president of the UAC, said the process of booking Wale was a long and difficult one.
“Getting in contact with Wale and his management agency was no easy task,” Torbert said. “We had been looking into getting Wale since July, actually, with several back-and-forth emails, phone-calls, negotiations and contracts.”
Torbert said that the plans for Wale to perform were set in August.
“It became official on Aug. 27, and we could officially start pubbing and announcing the HC concert on Aug. 31 when the graphics got approved by Wale’s management agency,” Torbert said.
Wale will be performing in the Trojan Arena as the main event, and DJ Lasalle will open the concert.
The UAC board began planning its events for this year in May of last year, Torbert said.
“We chose Wale to come to Troy University to perform for the HC concert because of the artist and genre of music he delivers,” Torbert said.
Torbert also said that she hopes the concert will jump-start the excitement for the weekend.
“We are hoping that he will bring a huge crowd out of Troy University and surrounding schools to add to the atmosphere and festivities of homecoming week,” Torbert said.
“We hope the student body gets even more thrilled about his coming as time draws near, especially since there hasn’t been an HC concert for the campus of Troy for quite some time.”
The UAC plans many concerts and events for the staff and students of Troy University. The last concert the council planned was last semester with Ben Rector, a pop rock artist, and NEEDTOBREATHE, a Christian rock band.
“UAC is about meeting new people, getting involved on campus and making new memories one event at a time,” Torbert said.
The concert will be Oct. 16, the night before the homecoming game, at the Trojan Arena. Doors will open at 6 p.m., and the concert will begin at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $20 for students and $40 for the public and can be purchased online at troytrojans.com/tickets.
The concert is in celebration of the homecoming game the following day, Saturday, Oct. 17, where the Trojans will face off against Sun Belt Conference rival Idaho at 2:30 p.m. It will be coach Neal Brown’s first homecoming game.
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