SPRING FLING 2015: IT’S KANYE

“Concerts on Foss: now more than ever!”

It’s definitely not Kanye….but that’d be awesome, right?? Thanks to Yik Yak, that new thing that spreads weird rumors, many of us know that the line up is actually Chingy as headliner, Hall and Oates, and Big Sean. However, today I heard from a Spring Fling Committee member that the line-up is actually as follows:

JEREMIH
THE JULIE RUIN (Kathleen Hanna + members of Le Tigre / Bikini Kill)
DJEMBA DJEMBA

So maybe that’s right, since we know from previous years that the lineup is definitely complete once we have a hip hop headliner, an indie act, and some electronic music. But Yik Yak says otherwise and some senior says “we’re still negotiating with Modest Mouse.”

Will it be outside? I HOPE SO! But really, who knows at this point? It’s up to the admin, and even though last year I proclaimed that Spring Fling Will Be Outside [Forever] Even if Meteors Hit Foss, it was ultimately hyperbole and I have no idea (nor do Spring Fling Committee members).

SPRRRINGGGG FLIIINNGGGGG May 7, 1 PM (when the opening act, which will be decided during BATTLE OF THE BANDS AT ECLECTIC ON APRIL 24, goes on). Read past the jump to find out more about the artists.

DJEMBA DJEMBA

• “a Djemba Djemba is a DJ on Mad Decent
  He’s sort of trap-y and upbeat
  We figured after how stressful this year was ppl would be tryna rage”–Penina “co-chair of Spring Fling Committee” Kessler ’15

He also likes herbal tea and meditating so he’s just like us.

Check out Djemba Djemba’s Soundcloud. Here is a track:

THE JULIE RUIN

The Julie Ruin is fronted by Kathleen Hanna, who is a badass. She was really involved in the riot grrrl movement and is also married to a Beastie Boy (unrelated to how badass she is). She fronted Bikini Kill and Le Tigre and recently starred in the documentary The Punk Singer.

• “So hyped
  It’s gonna be sort of like the wild flag show our freshman year
  Just super high energy”
  Me: “whoah.
  yes.”
  “Also Kathleen Hanna!
  Yay feminism”–Penina Kessler ’15

JEREMIH 

• Me: “why Jeremih? what are his songs besides birthday sex?”
  “Basically this year was really hard bc there wasn’t really one album that made a headliner choice really clear cut. I got into Jeremih through his No More EP collab with Shlohmo and also ‘don’t tell em’ which was on the radio a ton at a time when I was listening to the radio a lot
  And is generally really catchy
  The song Bo Peep is incredible
  He’s also putting out an album in like two weeks”–Penina Kessler ’15

With a bunch of people on campus dissatisfied that Jeremih doesn’t compare to the headliners of the past two years–Kendrick Lamar and Chance The Rapper—astag_rocky and ztevenz decided to set the record straight. Here is their conversation (FB chat?) on Spring Fling and Jeremih. (Sidenote: apparently his name is not pronounced Jeremiah but more like Jeremy. Or like Jer-uhm-eye).

astag_rocky: ayy

ztevenz: ay

so i hear you’re disappointed by the news that jeremih is headlining spring fling

astag_rocky: 

do u see this

Wesleyan University

this is the face of your spring fling 2015

I think it goes without saying I’m upset

ztevenz:  that’s p cute

(do you think that image is a commentary on consumption and  religion?)

you’re not a jeremih fan

astag_rocky:  I think it goes without saying I am not a Jeremih fan

I think its a commentary on birthday sex

because lets face it that is what his whole career is based on

ztevenz:  a lot of things are going without saying, but i’d like to hear what you have to say

alright yes, “birthday sex” is his most popular song

and he has fewer big hits than some other acts, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a great act to headline spring fling

astag_rocky:  April 13th this is what Jeremih tweeted:

Once you can parse through that I think we need to break it to Jeremih that no one is impersonating him

what would even qualify one as a Jeremih impersonator

but back to the matter at hand

The question here is quality of catalog

it’s not as if Kendrick or even Chance didn’t have several hits. I mean we had Big Boi from Outkast several years ago for god sake.

it’s that I need you to name me more than 3 Jeremih songs right now

because you can’t without looking them up

ztevenz:  I assume you mean besides “Birthday Sex” so here’s three: “Don’t Tell ‘Em,”  “Ride Like That” and “No More”

also “Fuck You All the Time”

you forget that we also had Big K.R.I.T. headline

astag_rocky:  I guarantee you are the only one know knows the merits of “Fuck You All The Time”

ztevenz:  I mean, it’s a great song, everyone should learn the merits of it before Spring Fling rolls around

astag_rocky: I think that’s very true

Big K.R.I.T. is a different story because while he doesn’t possess hits he has the blogosphere acclaim that Jeremih never attained

but we could be exploring the catalogs of someone with far more to offer

ztevenz:  Big K.R.I.T. put on a pretty mediocre show?

And I realize part of that was because it was in the hockey rink

but it wasn’t great either way…

Jeremih, on the other hand, is a born entertainer

He has the R&B thing going that these other headliners don’t have

astag_rocky:  But Chance and Kendrick were fire

the venue is important to remember here

I think it will definitely help Jeremih’s case?

ztevenz: Oh, I am not arguing against either of them

I agree completely

I think Chance and Kendrick are way better than Jeremih

but I also see the value in Jeremih

and think it will be a great show

astag_rocky:  I can literally think of 5 like rappers that would be a better act than Jeremih

because he is filling the token rap/r&b spot

here would be my recommendations in no particular order

Vic Mensa, Action Bronson, Schoolboy Q,

all do-able, all potential choices

A$AP Ferg as well

ztevenz:  Those are all good choices

maybe minus Vic Mensa (this is a good article that just came out on chance going places versus vic not really)

astag_rocky: Vic Mensa just premiered a single with kanye like 3 days ago …..

hes on the precipice

I would even argue where chance was right before he dropped Acid Rap

except bigger

ztevenz:  I mean creatively not going anywhere, not hype-wise

My votes would have been for those, or maybe Run the Jewels or FKA Twigs

but we are heading down the wrong path

ztevenz:  holy shit RTJ I would lose it

But like for spring fling are we supposed to try and predict the potential output or just go with the artists current catalog

Cuz Mensa has some great shit out right now

ztevenz:  I think one of the great things about Jeremih is that even if you are initially disappointed with the pick (and inevitably, so many people are), he is a fun act with good jams that you can get down to.

I do think it has broken with that pattern that led to Kendrick and Chance being picked

Because Jeremih is not necessarily blowing up right now. He’s on that back-burner, slow-cooker. But I think there’s serious merit to that.

astag_rocky:  I mean I think it’s hard to keep up with that hype. Feel like Run The Jewels or Schoolboy could have matched it tho

is that just a polite way of saying he’s not really relevant tho lol

ztevenz:  haha no

what i think would be awesome is if he got clued in to what Wesleyan folks are into, and pulled more from his No More EP with Shlohmo

Though I  realize that those aren’t necessarily anthems or super high energy jams. But they are really great.

astag_rocky: Do you feel like there’s a significant enough group of people here who know that tape tho?

I mean I am down to see Birthday Sex performed 600 times in a show

with a dash of Don’t Tell Em

ztevenz: Hahaha I mean, me too.

astag_rocky: But variety is not gunna b this shows strong suit

ztevenz: Let’s have that happen.

Petition to Jeremih

astag_rocky: Imma see what I can do

I wonder if he knows how much people at this campus don’t like him

ztevenz:  Set list:

1. Birthday Sex

2. Birthday Sex

3. Birthday Sex

4. Don’t Tell Em

5. Birthday Sex

i don’t know, you might be assuming things. maybe people actually do like him.

probably most people lie somewhere between you and me on the Jeremih spectrum

I guess we’ll see over the next few days now that the word is out

astag_rocky: What if he just only covers R. Kelly songs

its an R. Kelly tribute concert

THEN Spring Fling can just have all my money

ztevenz:  I’d be down.

Let’s ask him.

Can you call him up? I’ve heard you happen to have lots of musicians phone numbers.

astag_rocky: ahahaha look at this article

You actually can call him

773-779-LOVE

Wesleyan get dialing

 

There it is, our spring fling lineup for this year! People will bitch about this for another three weeks and then be really into it for like a day before bitching about Wesleyan again during finals. So it goes!