It’s Pirate tradition for students to place predictions on who will be performing at the Student Activities Board (SAB) Onward Spring concert. But, Pirates are also not strangers to a thrilling surprise or utter disappointment.
For students, this year’s announcement was exactly that.
On March 12, SAB announced Malcolm Todd as this year’s Spring concert performer. The concert will take place at the Richie Reagan Athletic Center on March 31.
On SAB’s Instagram post announcing Todd as the performer, some students commented on the post, hoping it would be Fetty Wap.
Despite some students’ “Chest Pain” that Fetty Wap is not the performer, SAB’s announcement post has garnered over 11 thousand likes.
“The most liked concert announcement to date, and it’s been up for less than a day,” SAB Director Richard Picone commented on the Instagram announcement.
A student who has seen the enthusiasm firsthand is Brett Berlin, a senior international relations and international economics major.
“I've gotten multiple DMs from people asking for tickets who don't even go here,” Berlin said. “They’re like, ‘Oh my god, can you bring me as a guest?’ So obviously, it seems that people are very excited for this.”
Another student, Kaebla Zabala, said she “literally jumped” out of her seat as her friends were blowing up her phone to tell her Todd would be performing at SHU.
“He was my number one artist on Spotify last year, so I just freaked out,” the junior communication major said. “I was with my boyfriend, I got out of my seat, and I looked at him, and I was like, ‘Oh, it's really happening.’”
Other students are just as hype. Jay Costa, a senior sports media major, said, “This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to Seton Hall.” He said he was “pretty ecstatic.”
Echoing the student excitement, Mahraeel Salib, a sophomore political science major, said she loves Todd and was “excited” when he was announced as the performer; however, her friends have mixed reviews.
“Some of my friends have been excited for it, but some of them have been pretty upset about it,” Salib said. “They're like, ‘Who's Malcolm Todd? I don't really want to go to that because who’s Malcolm Todd?’”
While both casual and superfans on campus are elated about the performance, those who are disappointed seem to share a common reason. Ateera Bradley, a junior visual and sound media major, said students’ expectations set them up for failure.
“We all thought it was going to be Fetty Wap,” Bradley said.
After SAB posted a teaser on Instagram, most students had narrowed the options to Malcolm Todd or Fetty Wap in the comments, leaving students anxiously awaiting the results.
Soleille Manasse, a sophomore criminal justice and sports media major, called SAB’s decision a “poor judgment call” because SHU could have hopped onto the 2016 trend with Fetty Wap. Additionally, he is “one of Jersey’s icons.”
Despite her personal wishes, Manasse recognized that SHU is “trying to cater to all of their communities,” which she views as a “good thing.”
“I just personally wish that they picked Fetty over Malcolm because Malcolm has recently been trending, and Fetty has been popular since 2013,” Manasse said.
Berlin said he had high hopes that the performer would be Fetty Wap after hearing rumors around campus that he would be at SHU.
“As someone who grew up with [Rae Sremmurd and A Boogie] that performed here, Fetty Wap would have been a great way to kind of close out my senior year,” Berlin said.
Conveniently, Fetty Wap is performing 20 minutes away in Montclair at the Wellmont Theater on April 4. Bradley believes this also led to some students’ disappointment.
“Since it's so close, people are like, ‘Oh, why can't he just come here?’” Bradley said.
This is not the sole reason for students’ disappointment. Some students simply had never heard of Todd before. Muhammad Raza, a senior criminal justice major, was shocked by the announcement, as he and his friends were unaware of the artist.
“I think it's a letdown,” Raza said, as he and his friends were looking forward to their final Spring concert together at SHU.
Some students are indifferent. Benjamin Barry, a junior international relations and diplomacy major, said that despite not knowing who he was upon the announcement, he took the time to do his own research and listen to Todd’s music, which he’s “started to like.” Since then, he has purchased a ticket.
As someone who doesn’t listen to Todd, Zahrah Azeem, a junior political science major, said that Todd is a “good choice.”
“I was like, ‘Okay, I mean, this could be fun,’” Azeem said. “It's a little different than what I listen to, but I'm open to it.”
While Bradley knows who he is and enjoys some of his songs, she does not think Todd was an adequate choice for a spring concert, “especially because he’s still a small artist,” and she “feel[s] like a lot of people don’t know who he is.”
While being a smaller artist, Costa said Todd is at the perfect point in his career to perform at college Spring concerts.
“He's super popular [on social media], super talked about, and in the mainstream,” Costa said.
Zabala also highlighted Todd’s steamrolling success, which she believes made him a great choice for the concert.
“He has 15 million monthly listeners on Spotify,” Zabala said. “Plus, he's really popular on social media right now, like he was in Camp Flog Gnaw, Tyler, the Creator's Music Festival, and he's been in Lollapalooza.”
A genre shift may have been a good move for SAB, according to Berlin.
“A lot of people have been like, ‘Oh, we want a different type of artist,’” Berlin said. “The last three years have been rap and R&B…definitely a change, whatever [genre] it may be, would please the student body.”
Having artists perform who are a “throwback” for students makes for a good spring concert performer, according to Berlin.
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“An artist that has that longevity and songs that everyone can get around and have fun, even if there's only one or two songs that people may know, that would entice someone to be like, ‘Oh my god, $5 to go see this one song that I really like live,’” Berlin said.
However, no matter who was chosen to perform, students acknowledged there would be negative feedback regardless. Barry recalled that people were disappointed last year when Mariah the Scientist was announced, but they still enjoyed the show.
“There's always going to be people disappointed, and people are always complaining,” Barry said. “I remember Mariah the Scientist, people were complaining crazy for that one, so no matter who they choose, people are going to be upset one way or the other.”
Students should give the performer a chance, even if they are unsure, like Bradley did last year.
“Even with Mariah last year, a lot of people were upset about her, and I was also iffy about her, but I went,” Bradley said. “I was like, ‘Oh, some of her songs are really good.’”
Todd fans encouraged other students to “give him a try,” as Costa said.
“Listen to him with an open mind, listen to a song, listen to the lyrics, and understand it's objectively good music,” Costa added. “Good music is good music, regardless of the genre, and I think a lot of people box themselves in, and you gotta escape that box.”
Zabala reinforced Costa’s message to “just give him a chance.”
“He sounds even better live than in the studio,” Zabala said. “Yes, some of his songs are ‘TikTokified,’ but he's a really great performer.”
Additionally, Salib tells unsure students, “even if you don't like his music, just go for the vibes.”
Costa believes that students have the misconception that Todd will not put on a “good enough” show.
“The people who are saying that they haven't listened to his music,” Costa said. “All that matters is that you have a great time, and if they don't have a great time, then so what? You're out five bucks.”
Lakyn Austin is the head editor for The Setonian’s Features section. She can be reached at lakyn.austin@student.shu.edu.
