Campus Activities Programming Board organized one of the most awaited concerts of the season. Hip-hop artist Smino performed at Jesse Auditorium on Oct. 5 for a crowd of MU students.
The auditorium had standing and seated spots and a long line formed outside Jesse Hall before the doors even opened. The public sang and danced to the St. Louis rapper’s work from his well-known album “blkswn” to his newest work, “4sport.” Smino’s most famous hits have millions of clicks on Spotify and the Missouri-based artist has more than 1.2 million monthly listeners on the streaming service. Despite his popularity on Spotify, he began on Soundcloud like most rappers from his generation.
Bari, another St. Louis-native rapper, was the opening performance. He mainly promoted his EP, “The Prefix,” available on Soundcloud as well, and got the audience ready for the main performance of the night with songs like “Tortas” and “Glacier.” Smino is also featured on the track “Intrigue,” from this same EP.
During his concert, the crowd’s favorite songs were “Netflix & Dusse,” “Anita” and “blkswn,” all from the album “blkswn.” Smino interacted with the crowd a lot, always talking to the people in the front row and to everyone that was singing along. The standing area right in front of the stage was full to its capacity, with a few seats left in the auditorium.
“The concert was booked last semester,” Allison Randazzo, concert chair at Campus Activities Programming Board, said. “I got to be one of the student drivers for the day, so we picked him up from the airport and it was fun. [Smino and his crew] are so cool, very chill and easy to work with.”
Campus Activities Programming Board is also responsible for other events on campus, such as the free Wednesday films and the one-dollar weekend films at Jesse Wrench Auditorium, the LGBTQ community Coming Out Week events and Poetry in the Park.
_Edited by Alexandra Sharp | asharp@themaneater.com_