This weekend I learned a few things at Reno’s Biggest Little Festival. I learned lemonade ruins turf, the female freshman population own more leotards than the Russian ballet and most importantly, I learned that YG sucks.
On Saturday, Sept. 10, Rapper, YG, aka “Young Gangsta” (obviously) put on the worst performance since Ashlee Simpson’s epic lip sync fail on Saturday Night Live. Well, I wouldn’t really consider it an actual performance considering he was 20 minutes late, bitched like a “Hills” character for 25 minutes about our college sound system not being “up to par,” played other rappers’ songs for five minutes, then finally after much unnecessary anticipation, YG performed for a whopping 20 minutes.
I think many of us could agree we heard more from YG’s hype man than from the rapper himself. The hype man came out guns-a-blazin (not actually) begging the crowd to scream for YG or he wasn’t going to come out. After that shit storm, YG’s hype man better start begging for fans to come to his show.
When the rapper blew out his sound system in the first 10 minutes of his set he complained more like a reality TV show cast member than a self-proclaimed man of the streets. Street cred aside, the rapper, dumbfounded on the stage chose to call out our sound system instead of doing what he is paid to do- rap.
The rapper is speculated to have made about $50,000 for the gig.
Things we could’ve done with the $50,000 instead:
1.Added a few more parking spaces on campus
2.Constructed an additional bathroom at Our Bar to cut those lines in half
3.Bought 5,000 pitches of Coors at the Wal
4.Pay off Kehoe’s student debt
But really. After much thoughtful reflection I couldn’t decide what was worse, YG’s set or the fans wearing “Bompton” shirts. I don’t know what the hell Bompton means. (No one knows what it means but it’s provocative.) Bompton is the rapper’s coined term for his hometown, Compton. The B comes into play for the “bloods.” Now that we know what it means, we can clearly see why overwhelmingly white sorority girls support the cause: nothing says LA gang violence like future Summerlin moms.
I know what you guys are thinking, Ali “Why you always hatin?” Don’t get me wrong, it’s nothing personal. I have no vendettas against YG or his hype henchman. But I do think performers should be held to a certain standard of accountability. You’re getting paid thousands of dollars to rap, by god that sound system goes out and you should be free styling like you never have before. I will say, I have a lot of respect for the rap community. I mean the only rap I know is the Andy Milonakis theme song. I am just saying, performers have responsibilities as professionals to begin with. But that responsibility should be taken even more seriously when it comes to performing on a college campus. College students constantly have weights on their shoulders- whether it be paying tuition money, time management between jobs and classes or even just the pressure to graduate on time, concerts such as this serve as an opportunity as a fun escape.
Thousands of dollars in student fees go toward putting on events such as these. ASUN did a great job putting on the festival and bringing a lineup that appeased diverse music taste. The people wanted YG. However, he was a complete let down and nothing short of a disrespect to our campus.
Sorry YG, but the Wolf Pack has to Toot it and boot your ass off the stage.
Ali Schultz studies journalism. She can be reached at alexandraschultz@unr.edu and on Twitter @TheSagebrush.
