Following a second student survey, Fabolous has officially been booked as the 2013 Spring Concert performer.
After difficulties booking the top four student-selected artists on the initial survey, Student Association Productions (SAP) sent out a second survey with a new set of artists. The new survey asked students whether they would prefer a musical act or comedian, along with choices for each.
According to Vice President of Programming Esthephanie Peralta, 1,731 students completed the second survey. She said 67.7 percent voted for a musical artist, compared to 32.3 percent who favored a comedian.
Out of the three artist choices, Peralta said Say Anything came out on top, garnering 46.3 percent of the votes, Fabolous came in second with 32.2 percent and the Dirty Heads placed last with 21.4 percent.
Although Peralta first contacted their middle agent Adam Taylor to put in a bid for Say Anything, several members of the band could not make it, which led her to put in a bid for Fabolous, who was still available.
Fabolous will be on tour with Pusha T, and the two will perform in the Elting Gym on Friday, May 3, Peralta said. The cost for both artists is $45,000, which Peralta said is “relatively cheap” and comparable to the price of getting Say Anything. She said they are also planning on having an opener and are considering a DJ, but nothing is definitive.
Peralta said she is happy with the performer choice and is confident it will be a successful show.
“I’ve been reading reviews about him, so I’ve heard that he was a really good performer,” she said. “I’m just preoccupied with making it a great show, that everybody’s safe and that everybody’s having a great time, so as long as that happens, I’m happy.”
Coming into her position, Peralta said she understood there would be controversy surrounding the artist choice, so she was not surprised to hear student reactions on “both ends.” She said there are some students who are “so happy,” but others who are not as pleased.
Finally securing Fabolous did not come without challenges, Peralta said, as she had been having a tough time since last semester. Because many artists change their schedules or stop touring, she said the artist options were very out of her control.
“I feel like we got a good final three and I’m just happy that we have somebody that people are excited about,” Peralta said.
Zylon Tokash, a fourth-year English major, said he feels the performer choice shows a disconnect with the student body and believes other schools have better ways of putting together their big spring events.
“The selection reflects how out of touch the school and even the Student Association is with its students. If you look at Purchase’s Culture Shock, you see a lot of good artists ranging in genres. You can tell Culture Shock was incredibly thought out and was made to please all of their students,” Tokash said. “Our selection seems like they just threw all their money at one guy to get a big name that nobody cares about. The whole thing needs to be restructured to better suit our campus, multiple but smaller artists would fit budgeting needs while pleasing more students. Bigger doesn’t mean better.”
However, fourth-year art history major Matt Moskowitz – who voted for Fabolous – thinks he is a great artist to bring to campus.
“I’m happy Fabolous is coming to New Paltz. I hadn’t heard of most of the other acts, but Fabolous has a lot of classic tracks like ‘Holla Back’ and ‘Breath,’” Moskowitz said. “Plus he is from New York. It’s going to be good to bring some real hip hop to New Paltz.”
SAP is looking for concert volunteers to help with tasks such as putting up and breaking down the stage or cleaning up. Anyone interested in volunteering should email Peralta at vpprogramming@newpaltzsa.com or visit the SA office.