Lupe Fiasco to headline Fling concert

The show will go on at Franklin Field with Lupe Fiasco leading the Spring Fling lineup this year.

The Social Planning and Events Committee announced Thursday that hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco will headline the concert, which will also feature Ratatat and Flo Rida.

Students have been speculating that Lupe Fiasco would perform at Fling since Feb. 18, when his website prematurely posted that he would be performing at Franklin Field on April 15 — the night of the Spring Fling concert.

Wharton senior and SPEC President Adam Thompson explained that an uninformed intern at Lupe Fiasco’s record label posted the date on the website even though SPEC representatives and the artist’s agency were still in negotiations.

“We can’t release rumors and at that time it was still very much a rumor,” Thompson said.

Some students were confused by SPEC’s decision to select Lupe Fiasco was the headliner as opposed to Flo Rida.

“Flo Rida should have been the headliner,” College freshman Matt Brotman said.

“He has at least five huge hits … Lupe doesn’t have anything on the level of the “Club Can’t Handle Me Now,” he added.

College junior and SPEC Concerts co-director Shana Rusonis said Lupe was chosen as the headliner since it is “a high-profile time for Lupe Fiasco,” citing the release of his new album Lasers in early March and his upcoming spring college tour.

She added that “although we have to call one an opener, this year we wanted a more equally weighted show.”

“Each artist [in this year’s lineup] is definitely a name in their own right,” Rusonis said. “It doesn’t necessarily need to be a hierarchy. It really just has to do with the order in which they perform in.”

“Over the next month he’s only going to grow in popularity … but he’s also a longstanding artist who’s been in the industry,” she explained.

“We feel like he is a really good act to bring and Penn of all places will be a great audience for him,” Wharton sophomore and SPEC Concerts co-director Julia Sternfeld added.

Other students were excited about the final addition of Lupe Fiasco to the Fling concert lineup.

“He is very talented,” College freshman Carolina Angel said. “He’s one of the smartest rappers and he really has a way with words.”

Although many students praised SPEC’s choice of a headliner, most students were not surprised by the announcement.

“Everyone knew it was going to be Lupe … it was posted on his website,” College junior Aileen Palmer said.

College freshman Marlee Stesin agreed. “It was a little anticlimactic but I’m still excited,” she said.

Sternfeld said she was “disappointed” by the premature announcement “because we were planning an awesome release.”

“But overall, after it got out, we were happy with the response we got,” she added.

Despite the early posting of Lupe Fiasco’s upcoming performance at Penn, SPEC members are confident in this addition to the Spring Fling lineup.

“He was chosen for his wide appeal, but he is also a little bit different then the straight-up rappers we have had in the past,” Thompson said.

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