Rapper IDK will headline this year’s spring concert, along with a student band opener, according to the Entertainment Board (E-Board). The concert will take place on Friday, April 8.

“We wanted to bring [IDK] for the fall concert, but the administration did not allow that, so we moved him to the Spring. We were so excited to secure him since his music is dope, has great features and a great stage presence! I hope students are excited,” E-Board Co-Chair Giancarlo De La Rosa ’22 said.

With 2,500,000 monthly Spotify listeners, Maryland-based IDK is on the rise in the rap world. In July 2021, he released his second studio album, USEE4YOURSELF, which peaked at 164 on the U.S. charts.

The Spring Concert, which is typically held during Ivies weekend, was moved by Senior Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs Janet Lohmann and Director of Student Activities and Smith Union Nate Hintze to increase student attendance at the concert.

“I don’t think we had 200 people at that show in Farley Fieldhouse, which is cavernous. It’s embarrassing to the artists, it’s embarrassing to the E Board to have so few students attend that show,” Hintze said. “So it made sense to pull out the concert to actually give students a chance to go to a show that has really great production and people that they may actually want to go to.”

Hintze was referring to the most recent spring concert during Ivies Weekend in 2019, headlined by rapper Mick Jenkins and singer Jamila Woods.

The E-Board surveyed students last semester to gauge their interest in genre and artist, which helped inform their choice of artist.

In the past, E-Board has had a budget of $90,000 to $100,000 for Ivies weekend programming, with $65,000 for talent acquisition. This year, however, the E-Board was allotted $30,000 for the concert, which includes production cost, setup and cleaning, according to E-Board.

“Please come to the concert so we can ask for more money, bring more artists and have even more fun,” De La Rosa said.