Hip-hop artist Ludacris will headline the annual A&O Ball in Patten Gymnasium on April 24, A&O announced Wednesday.
Ludacris, whose given name is Christopher Bridges, most recently released his sixth album in November 2008, “Theater of the Mind,” which peaked at number 5 on the U.S. Billboard 200. The Champaign, Ill. native is known for hits such as “Move Bitch” and “What’s your Fantasy.” He also appeared in the Oscar-winning movie Crash.
“We’re excited to bring Ludacris because he’s an actor and a Grammy-winning artist,” said A&O Director of Concerts Forrest Wickman. “While Mayfest has been bringing high caliber hip-hop to Northwestern for the past couple of years, it’s been a little while since A&O has been able to do that.”
The artist is no stranger to Northwestern. He came to campus in November 2006 to talk about AIDS awareness. “I can’t speak for other rappers, but I think it’s important that I let you know to be safe when you’re having sex,” he told students then, according to a Chicago Sun-Times account of the speech.
Opening for Ludacris will be New Orleans hip-hop band The Knux. The band confirmed its performance at Northwestern on its MySpace page.
“They are often considered to be a somewhat nerdier brand of hip-hop, but they also like to have fun, and we think that’s a perfect fit for NU,” Wickman said.
A third band will also be performing, but A&O was unable to confirm it at this time because the contracts haven’t yet been finalized.
Tickets for the A&O Ball will go on sale for undergraduates on April 15 at 10 a.m. on the Norris Box Office Web site and will cost $15. Any remaining tickets will go on sale on April 16 for all members of the Northwestern community; tickets will cost $20 for graduate students and Northwestern faculty and staff. There is a limit of two tickets per NetID.
Although she couldn’t specify the exact number of tickets available for sale, A&O Chair Syd Cohen said. There’s a possibility that more tickets would be released closer to the date of the concert, she said.
“When we do shows, it’s likely that we’ll be able to release tickets closer to the day of the show, because [of] various holds that we have to do,” she said.
Cohen expressed enthusiasm at the prospect of a hip hop show.
“The first act that I produced at Northwestern when I was a freshman was a hip-hop artist and they’re always incredibly fun shows,” the Weinberg and Bienen senior said. They really engage the audience.”