Hip-hop artist Twista and neo-soul group Floetry are set to perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 22 at the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. The event coincides with Ohio University's Black Alumni Weekend.
Black Student Cultural Programming Board Public Relations Director Jonathan Davis, a senior journalism major, said the organization is sponsoring the concert with partial funding from the OU Student Activities Commission. Tickets are $25 and available at the OU Box Office and at www.ohiotickets.musictoday.com. He said they expect tickets for the concert to sell out.
The BSCPB decided on Twista partly because he was touring at the time on his Kamikaze Tour, originally with rapper T.I., who pulled out after being sentenced to three years in prison for violating his parole in April, according to United Press International. The lineup of Twista and Floetry, a female duo, will give the show a good combination of hip-hop and neo-soul, Davis said. They decided to bring Floetry to appeal more to the alumni.
According to www.twista.com, Twista, a native of Chicago's west side, was named the world's fastest rapper by the Guinness Book of World Records more than a decade ago. Stops on his tour include the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland and Ohio State University.
The concert is during Black Alumni Weekend, an event that occurs every three years at OU. Davis said they chose this date to give the visiting alumni another activity option for the weekend. It is one of a group of events scheduled for the weekend, which include a step show on Friday, a cabaret following the concert in the Baker Ballroom on Saturday and the dedication of the Berry plaque commemorating the Berry Hotel on Sunday.
The show is a replacement of the annual Sibs' Weekend concert the BSCPB organizes. This year the Sibs Weekend show was canceled because of a scheduling conflict, Davis said. The Performing Arts Series had scheduled a show for the same date.
The BSCPB previously worked with the University Program Council and the International Student Union to organize concerts, and before plans fell through, the groups discussed bringing artists such as Chingy, Ludacris and Outkast, Davis said. The choice of Twista was better for the BSCPB's funding purposes and timeliness, as Twista released his CD, Kamikaze, in January.
The concert will be hosted by Teresa Terry, a disc jockey at 107.5 in Columbus.
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Megan Chew
