APRIL 17, 2024 • VOLUME 94 • ISSUE 24
The official student newspaper of Quinnipiac University since 1929
‘WELCOME TO MY HOUSE’
Flo Rida headlines Student Programming Board’s annual Wake the Giant concert
TRIPP MENHALL/CHRONICLE
By JACKLYN PELLEGRINO Arts & Life Editor
Nostalgia filled M&T Bank Arena on Sunday as students waited with their friends to hear rapper Flo Rida perform popular songs from the late 2000s at the Student Programming Board’s annual Wake the Giant concert.
PLANNING FOR THE ANNUAL CONCERT
SPB had been planning Wake the Giant since October. The organization sent out a
survey to students asking them what genres they would want to see at the concert near the end of the month. Nicole Healy, assistant director of student engagement, said that rap music ranked first in the survey, followed by pop and country. She said that more than 1,000 students responded within five days of the form being sent out. Flo Rida’s music fit the genre that students wanted, but the rapper also met Quinnipiac’s administrative and logistical needs to make sure the event was safe, Healy said. “We knew from our middle management company and other universities who had (Flo Rida) before that he’s very professional,” Healy said. “He’s used to the college environment because performing at Quinnipiac isn’t the same as performing at
Madison Square Garden.” Flo Rida was supposed to come in 2020 but that concert got canceled because of COVID-19. So he has always been on SPB’s list, said Zachary Iwatsuki, a senior health science studies major and SPB president. Iwatsuki said that college students listened to Flo Rida when they were in middle school and high school and his music is still played today in clubs, bars, spin classes and cafés. “He has a ton of music that people would know,” Iwatsuki said. “We were like, ‘Oh, (Flo Rida) would create a great show for students where people will know the music, have a good time and get their mind off of finals and all those projects.’” SPB wanted Flo Rida to be the focal point of the event, so they chose DJ Fire aka Tafari Turner — a graduate of Southern Connecticut State University – to open the show while students were stil coming into the arena. “(DJ Fire is) always coming up with new content,” Healy said. “He’s a little bit more of a low-key DJ, but he brings a lot of energy and a lot of knowledge. He keeps up with what college students want because that changes almost by the day.” See FLO RIDA Page 6
TRIPP MENHALL/CHRONICLE
A crowd of Quinnipiac University students in M&T Bank Arena cheer on Wake the Giant headliner Flo Rida on Sunday.
AIDAN SHEEDY/CHRONICLE
Rapper Flo Rida performs in a custom Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey jersey.