Last night, the Entertainment Board (E-Board) announced the two headliners for its spring concert: rapper NLE Choppa and singer Sean Kingston.

“There’s not much of a better opportunity for students to be in the same space, enjoying the same event, than a concert,” Chair of the E-Board Alex Tesson ’23 said. “We didn’t want to have just a rapper this year, we figured it’s time to get people who don’t just enjoy rap a chance to go to the concert and sing along.”

The event will continue to be free for students and is the third year in a row in which the spring concert is entirely separate from Ivies. Tesson said he could not disclose how much the E-Board paid for the performers.

Memphis-born rapper NLE Choppa rose to prominence in 2019 following his hit “Shotta Flow.” The song, like many of his others, is known for its aggressive, energetic cadence inspired by the Memphis soundscape. He was included in hip-hop magazine XXL’s freshman class, an honor once bestowed upon rappers J. Cole and 21 Savage.

Sean Kingston, a singer and rapper hailing from Miami who spent most of his life in Jamaica, is best known for his 2007 hit “Beautiful Girls.” In 2020, Kingston was accused of and sued for gang rape for an incident in 2010.The lawsuit has since been settled. Tesson said the booking agent the E-Board used, who researched Kingston, cleared him for the show.

“There is this obvious, huge stain on his image, but the agent did the research to make sure we weren’t bringing someone with a harmful track record to campus,” Tesson said.

Student reaction to the announcement has been largely positive, with particular praise for the perceived popularity of the artists.

“I’m excited for it. They’re big names—you wouldn’t think they’d come to Bowdoin,” Matthew Cohen ’27 said.