The lineup for Spring Weekend 2016 will include Fetty Wap, Tinashe, Mac DeMarco, Tink, Thundercat, Funkinevil and the What Cheer? Brigade, the Brown Concert Agency announced at its annual Lineup Release Party at midnight Wednesday. Spring Weekend will take place April 15 and 16.
Tickets, which will go on sale at 8 a.m. April 11, will be $20 each. The event will be open to all members of the Brown community, and there will be 3,200 tickets available per day.
Students will be excited to see Fetty Wap — the New Jersey rapper behind hit singles “Trap Queen” from April 2014 and “679” from June. Fetty Wap, born Willie Maxwell II, has been praised for his feminist lyrics and his success as a celebrity who is disabled. “Trap Queen” was nominated for Best Hip Hop Video, Best Club Banger and People’s Champ Award at the BET Hip Hop Awards in 2015.
Fetty Wap, who will be headlining the Friday performances, was the “highest polling artist we had in the fall poll we put out,” said Michael Briskin ’16, co-chair of the BCA. “We got him at his peak, when he’s his most popular,” he added.
Los Angeles singer-songwriter Tinashe — whose debut single “2 On” featuring ScHoolboy Q was on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 — adds to the exciting weekend lineup. She toured with Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry in 2015 and will headline her own “Joyride World Tour” this year.
Canadian singer and producer Mac DeMarco is best known for his songs “My Kind of Woman” and “Ode to Viceroy.” His style, often characterized as alternative, slacker and psychedelic rock, can be expected to mellow out the lineup.
Mac DeMarco will headline Saturday’s show, said Emily Maenner ’16, also co-chair of the BCA. “His music is so chill, but his live shows get kind of rowdy,” she said. “He just has a great stage presence.”
Illinois-born Tink is the rapper behind hit songs “Million” and “Treat Me Like Somebody.” Praised for her incorporation of the Black Lives Matter movement and women’s rights into her music, Tink uses her talent to address the emotional challenges of youth.
The BCA always hopes to get “as many women as possible in our lineup,” Maenner said. “We usually have a male rapper,” but this year, they managed to book Tink as well, she added.
Thundercat, whom Briskin deemed the “creative mastermind behind Kendrick (Lamar)’s album,” will be the first on stage Saturday. His style is a combination of “jazz, soul and funk,” Briskin added. Thundercat has also collaborated extensively with Flying Lotus, “which is a name that also comes up all the time,” Maenner said.
Electronic funk band Funkinevil and Providence’s own brass band What Cheer? Brigade will also mix up the music genres available at Spring Weekend.
“At the end of the day, we’re always concerned about bringing the artists who can perform the best live, and sometimes, that may not align with name recognition,” Maenner said.
“Even if people don’t know some of the artists that well, the live shows will still be great,” Briskin said.
