Freshhh Air: College Drop-Ins

This past Tuesday I went to the Wale, Clipse, and Big Sean concert at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. I was in the 4th row and paid $15 for all 3 of them. It was CRAZY!!! Big Sean actually has a lot of fans, despite not having actually put out an album, Clipse was sooo intense, I swear they had the look in their eyes like they were battling, and Wale did every song on his album except "Let it Loose" and "Shades," plus additional songs off of previous mixtapes. What I noticed in each of their performances is that they did not act like this was a $10-$15 show on a Midwest college campus, they performed the same way they would as if they were in NYC or LA. I of course appreciated their artistic integrity of not doing a half ass job because it was a smaller venue but I made me think about why college tours are essential to an artists success. It may be a way for artists to pay their dues and develop a fan base that use social media frequently enough to create a buzz. It might also be a test market for record companies to see how the public responds to them. Who knows, but I definitely take advantage of the cheaper tickets even though I'm still pissed that I paid $30 to see Drake at Oakland University at an outdoor venue, also where I graduated from high school.

P.S. I've seen Wale live twice and both time he tries to get the crowd to reenact a scene from 8 mile since he's in Detroit. Both times I feel the crowd was unsuccessful lol