VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: University Union’s Block Party has a female headliner for the first time since KE$HA
Nicholas Waley: The end of the spring semester may mean it’s time for finals and projects, but it also means that it’s time for students to let loose and attend Block Party. The annual concert inside the JMA Wireless Dome produced by Universal to Union is next weekend. The event has seen some of the greatest names in music perform at SU since its inception in the 1970s. This year, Lotto and Roll Model add their names to that illustrious list of musicians to perform in the 315, a pedigree that associate PR director Lachlan Sartson hopes to continue for the future.
Lachlan Sartison: Being able to bring in those cool artists that everyone wants to see and you know it’s obviously super rewarding for us when we get those cool artists just like Lotto and you know Lil Yachty and everything like that. I feel like the public really likes to see that and you know we’re happy to be that kind of transition into seeing those people which is awesome.
Waley: The big story around Block Party this year is the fact that the headliner is a female artist. The last time that was the case was 12 years ago when someone named Kesha came to the JMA Wireless Dome. This was a goal for the entire University Union executive board and something that the president was really adamant about.
Naimah Rahman: One of our main goals was to have a female headliner this year. I think that our board of directors is actually entirely made up of women. Besides two men. Love them! But what was really important that our shows and the program that we put on reflects our student body and I think that you know women are really underrepresented in music business and in music and that was something that was super important for us and an integral part of the booking process is that we prioritized getting you know a female headliner.
Waley: Tickets for the event on the 25th of April are $20 for SU and ESF students, but if you are not a student at either university, do not worry because you can still attend for $40 a piece. Nicholas Waley NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Every year, the school year at Syracuse University ends with a bang. University Union produces an annual concert inside the JMA Wireless Dome called Block Party. Last year, the set list was Lil Yachty, Teezo Touchdown, ISOxo and KARRAHBOOO. This year, the Block Party lineup features performances from artists Latto and Role Model.
What makes this Block Party lineup particularly important is that the headliner, Latto, is the first female artist to headline a Block Party since Ke$ha headlined in 2013. It is baffling that it’s taken 12 years for that to be the case. When she came into the role as president, Naimah Rahman made it a “goal to have a female artist headline block party.”
Another reason for this push is that the e-board at University Union consists of mostly women. Of the 19 people on the board of directors, 17 of them are women. Naimah added that UU’s board had been “male dominate” in the past few years and with female artists being “underrepresented and underappreciated,” they all wanted to do that for Block Party.
Tickets are $20 for all Syracuse University and SUNY ESF students with a valid college I.D. Then, the general public can also attend for $40. Syracuse University and SUNY ESF students can purchase a maximum of two tickets.