www.news-record.com/content/2009/09/29/article/nc_at_headliner_drawing_criticismN.C. A&T headliner drawing criticism
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
By Joe Killian
Staff WriterGREENSBORO — N.C. A&T’s Homecoming celebration draws thousands to Greensboro every year — students, alumni, families and music fans who want to see the hottest names in R&B, hip-hop and rap.
But this year’s celebration is also drawing controversy.
At issue: Gucci Mane, a headlining rapper at the event whose lyrics center on drug dealing, violence and his ties to the Bloods street gang.
University officials said they began hearing complaints earlier this month from students worried about the rapper representing A&T at homecoming. But by then, contracts were signed.
“After the contracts are signed, it’s very difficult for us to come back and say there are concerns,” said Sullivan Wellborne, the school’s vice president for student affairs.
Wellborne said students were surveyed at the end of last semester about who they would like to see at homecoming this year.
That list went to the student government association’s executive board. The lineup was determined with assistance from Diamond Life Entertainment, the production company helping stage the show at the Greensboro Coliseum.
By the time students came back to school and the administration began hearing complaints, more than 5,000 tickets for the Oct. 31 event already had been sold, Wellborne said.
But Tuesday night, Travis Jackson, the Student Government Association’s vice president for external affairs, said the student survey had gone out on the online social networking site Facebook — something many students felt was well short of an actual poll.
Money from student fees, along with money from the production company, pays to bring artists for homecoming. The Saturday night shows often include some of the biggest names in music.
This year’s bill includes R&B artists Trey Songz and Keri Hilson , rappers Fabolous and OJ da Juiceman .
Rapper Gucci Mane has drawn the most attention. His 2009 album “Murder Was the Case” includes songs such as “Cuttin’ Off Fingaz” and “Murder for Fun.”He was charged with murder in 2006, but the charges were dropped for insufficient evidence days before his debut album hit stores. He has been a lightning rod for criticism because of his lyrical boasts about drug dealing and gang ties.
SGA president Syene Jasmin publicly apologized for booking the artist in an interview with a local television station earlier this month. That brought criticism from his fellow students at Tuesday night’s SGA meeting, where he was accused both of not involving students in the booking and of making A&T look bad by being interviewed on the subject.
Jasmin largely stood his ground, saying he still believes the artist could hurt A&T’s image but agreeing he and his chief of staff could have handled the booking and the controversy better.
“We all have different tastes in music,” Jasmin said. “There is no way everyone would have been satisfied. But by talking about it and saying what I said, I was addressing concerns from the students, our constituents.”
Tyrane Perry, a sophomore at A&T, said there is a tension on campus between choosing artists with positive messages and bringing in the biggest names to draw the largest crowd.
“I believe we should be more conscious in who we choose, and realize they are representing our school at homecoming, whether we think about that or not,” Perry said.
“But at the same time, it’s hard to say who you could have who would be totally positive in hip-hop right now. The majority of the students are listening to what’s hot, and right now that’s Gucci Mane.”
A&T officials said Tuesday the concert will go on as planned.
Carlyle Phillips, an A&T junior, said he thinks Jasmin was right to address concerns about gang affiliation, especially on a campus where two students have died in shootings since 2008.
“I know when I get to the homecoming, I don’t want anything to happen to me either or to my friends or anyone there,” Phillips said. “But it’s true that on campus, people like Gucci Mane. The question is: Do you know it’s just music? It’s just lyrics. Some people can’t separate fantasy from reality.”
Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com
