By: William Hoffman
Ohio University’s campus attracts a slew of no-name musicians aiming to make the big time. And for many artists, OU appears to be a stepping-stone on the road to that goal.
Musicians who were once barely known — including Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne, John Legend, Machine Gun Kelly and Mike Posner — have all walked onto a stage in Athens and later emerged on top of the charts.
“When we brought John Legend and Lil Wayne, they just blew up right after. We wouldn’t be able to afford them now,” said Winsome Chunnu-Brayda, associate director of the Multicultural Center and advisor for Black Student Cultural Programming Board, which is involved in booking the annual Sibs Weekend concert. “For example, two months after (Legend) came here, all of a sudden he just jumped the charts.”
In 2005, OU booked Lil Wayne for $21,500 and John Legend, his opener, was booked for $12,500, Chunnu-Brayda said. She estimated that today, either of these artists would fetch upwards of $50,000 or more, with Lil Wayne possibly costing up to $1 million.
OU’s Sibs Weekend concert, organized by BSCPB’s general and executive board members, has long been a source of emerging talent.
Soon after his performance at OU’s 2010 Sibs Weekend, Wiz Khalifa’s career took off as well. Months after the show, Khalifa performed at South by Southwest and was named MTV’s 2010 Breakthrough Artist of the Year. By September 2010, just seven months after his OU performance, Khalifa’s single “Black and Yellow” reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Now a two-time Grammy-nominated rapper, Khalifa will return in May for the Spring Convo Concert.
Jareed Robinson, one of BSCPB’s booking agents, said that the board tries to listen to what students want, and they tend to be right, picking artists that have stirred a strong buzz in the music world since performing at OU.
“There really isn’t any data so we can’t make any claim, but it is amazing that a lot of these people just blow up right after they’re here,” Winsome said.
Robinson speculates that OU’s party school reputation helps booking teams secure artists on the brink of hitting it big. Artists seem to want to see what all the hype is about, Robinson said.
Steven Juffe, one of the booking agents for Ohio University’s Sibs Weekend for the past 13 years, agrees with Robinson and said he believes that the college has everything to do with past musicians’ success.
“OU is known as one of the best colleges to play at,” Juffe said. “It absolutely has a lot to do with OU. People know it’s going to happen, and we have enough momentum to keep going, and we know we’re going to get a good act year after year.”
Juffe added that universities tend to be strong venues for musicians to gain fame and spread the word about their music. This strategy targets a certain demographic that is essential for musicians to cater to, he said.
“It’s just the students and people talking about something that they enjoy and telling everyone about it,” said Victor Moore, musician and DJ for Sibs Weekend for the past three years. “It’s always a really rowdy, fun and energetic atmosphere, and it’s all because of the students.”
Moore said he believes that the success of the Sibs Weekend concert and the acts has nothing to do with the magic of Athens and everything to do with word of mouth from students and professors.
Spring’s number fest also continues to be a source of emerging talents, including Mike Posner and Machine Gun Kelly, who both scored major television appearances only weeks after performing for the festival, said Dominic Petrozzi, fest founder.
“Mike Posner had some serious steam coming in because our scouts look for people on the up and up,” Petrozzi said.
He added that Ohio tends to be a place that scouts look to for undiscovered talent, and that with new social media and with word of mouth from the underground scene, artists have more of an opportunity to break out and the environment in Ohio helps to facilitate that.
“Ohio, in general, is a place to find talent in the industry,” Petrozzi said. “It helps to have a festival in Ohio under your belt.”
lf328610@ohiou.edu
wh092010@ohiou.edu
