Just two weeks after the A&O Ball, A&O Productions is partnering with For Members Only, Northwestern’s Black Student Alliance, to bring hip-hop duo Clipse to campus on April 29. The concert will be the first major collaboration between the two student groups.
“We really feel like by pairing up with FMO, we can each do what we do best,” said Stefanie Goliszewki, A&O’s co-director of promotions and public relations. “We can put on shows. They know how to reach out to their community and really engage a specific group of people that will like the act that they’ve ended up bringing.”
When FMO discussed what artist to bring to campus, Clipse was always a frontrunner, said Sam Lozoff, FMO’s vice coordinator of programming. The Virginia-based hip-hop duo, made up of brothers Pusha T and Malice, was one of the first artists to associate with the Neptunes. Their critically-acclaimed album Hell Hath No Fury was released in 2006 and went to No. 14 on the Billboard 200 chart. Clipse’s latest album Til the Casket Drops was released in 2009.
“I know that they’re one of my favorite groups, so I was excited when other people got excited when they heard their name,” said Lozoff, a Weinberg junior.
The show was originally scheduled to take place shortly after spring break. However, due to “technical errors,” the show was pushed back to the end of April. The postponement is a blessing in disguise, according to Goliszewski, who said now is an especially “great” time for the show.
“We can build on the excitement people have had from [A&O] Ball and really bring the student body another great show that is a whole different genre and that people can get into and really enjoy,” Goliszewski said. “Overall, we’re happy with the date that it is now, and we can’t really ask for a better time.”
Clipse will be performing April 29 at 8 p.m. in the Louis Room at Norris. Tickets are $5 for undergraduates and $10 for graduate students. They can be bought online April 22 for undergraduates and April 25 for graduate students through the Norris Box Office.