Nelly will bring hip-hop back to Art Attack, which will be held on May 6 in Byrd Stadium.

Last night Student Entertainment Events announced Nelly as the headliner for this year’s Art Attack, bringing a hip-hop artist back to center stage.

Although Nelly wasn’t SEE’s “No. 1” choice, board members said they were ultimately pleased that he will be performing at the 28th annual Art Attack on May 6 with opening act Brenton Duvall, an up-and-coming mash-up artist.

“I’ve been a Nelly fan since middle school, and we picked him from student research and brainstorming amongst ourselves,” said Michael Goland, SEE’s concert director. “Nelly was not the first person that we looked into, but as we progressed … we came across Nelly, and we kind of stopped searching and very much pursued him once he popped up on our radar.”

While many students were excited about this year’s choice, some — such as senior marketing major Brian Canell — said Nelly seems out of date.

“I really like Nelly. I think he’s awesome, and he’s the first concert I ever went to when I was 10,” Canell said. “But I think SEE could have done a much better job; schools like Penn State get big names like Jay-Z.”

But Chelsea Soobitsky, SEE’s public relations director and a junior communications major, said that student opinion polls played a major factor in the organization’s decision.

“SEE, as an organization, weighed what the students wanted,” she said, noting that surveys were sent to students throughout the semester. “It’s really important to us to bring who the students want, and I know everyone in SEE has been really supportive in wanting to bring Nelly here.”

After Weezer and Ben Folds’ fusion of piano, pop and alternative rock brought unprecedented crowds, Soobitsky said SEE is hoping to replay last year’s success.

“We are keeping our fingers crossed,” Soobitsky said. “The whole reason SEE programs is for the students; so the more students who come out to the shows, the more we know we’re doing our job.”

Goland added that it was going to be a hard feat to achieve considering the huge fan-base of last year’s acts, but that he was confident the crowd would be screaming “It’s Gettin’ Hot in Herre” by the end of the night.

“I hope that we surpass last year’s turnout, which will be tough, but I’m confident that we have the ability to do it,” Goland said.

Soobitsky said that finding the perfect act was difficult this year, citing scheduling conflicts and budget difficulties, even though the organization started looking for an act months ago. Other artists on SEE’s radar screen included Kid Cudi and the Goo Goo Dolls.

And despite the fact that Nelly’s last Grammy win came when most students were still fighting the perils of junior high, many said that won’t stop them from enjoying the step back in time.

“I’m definitely still going to go,” Canell said. ” It’s not the worst they could have done, but with the resources they have they could have done a much better job.”

Stephanie Schmid, a sophomore special education major, said that although she has never heard of the opening act, Brenton Duvall, she hopes Nelly plays all her favorites, for old times’ sake.

“I think Nelly’s a good choice just because he has so many throwbacks everyone can enjoy,” said Schmid. ” I just hope he plays his old stuff that everyone knows and his new songs.”

Tickets go on sale Monday morning and will cost $5 for students with a UID and $20 for the general public. They can be purchased at umdtickets.com.

farrell at umdbk dot com