In the highest-attended Art Attack since 2010, rappers Big Sean and Wale headlined SEE’s annual concert at Byrd Stadium on Friday with an energetic set and a nonstop party atmosphere.

More than 10,000 people filled the stadium, making this year Art Attack’s best for ticket sales since Ben Folds and Weezer’s concert in 2010, said Shadia Weeks, Student Entertainment Events public relations director.

It was a breath of fresh air compared to last year’s headliner MGMT, who played mostly obscure tracks and refused to play the song they were best known for — 2008 single “Kids.” Unlike last year’s concert, there were no long wait times for artists to get on stage and no anxiety hoping the artists would play their hit songs. 

Though last year’s show left many disappointed, this year, Wale and Big Sean restored faith in the concert series that has been around since 1984, keeping the crowd —— filled with die-hard fans and people just looking for a good time —— excited and singing along until the very end.

“Big Sean and Wale are popular, current and relevant names in the music industry today, and 

they put on an amazingly entertaining show,” Weeks said.

“I know some people this year who said they weren’t going to Art Attack because it sucked last year,” said Erica Wang, a sophomore French and music major. “Everyone was dancing and bobbing their heads to the music.”

It could have been the scene of any other Friday night college party— there was dancing, glow sticks and bone-crushing bass, and many in the crowd seemed intoxicated.

After student rapper and Battle of the Bands winner D-Cal warmed up the audience, Wale hit the stage, then the pit — and the bleachers. Two songs in, he dashed into the crowd at the front of the stage and later went up to the stands, where he rapped nearly an entire verse sitting among starstruck fans.

He performed all his hits, including crowd favorites like “Slight Work” and “Bait,” and even some of his more poetic and R&B-influenced hits, such as “Bad” and “Lotus Flower Bomb.” And when he turned his microphone over to the audience during his verse on “No Hands,” the crowd was able to rap the entire half of his verse.

Wale was a definite crowd-pleaser — his calls and responses had the crowd pumped up, and as a Washington native, he showed love for the campus and referred to it and the rest of the Washington metropolitan area as home. 

But it was Big Sean who turned Byrd Stadium into an epic party arena.

“They both had great energy, but the stage effects that went along with Big Sean and his showmanship stole the show,” said freshman kinesiology major Devin Thomas.

From the second he stepped on the stage, it was a colorful spectacle full of strobe lights. He bounced around the stage performing well-known hits such as “Dance (A$$)” and “Beware” from his debut, Finally Famous, and most recent album Hall of Fame, respectively, as well as verses from songs such as “All Me” featuring his G.O.O.D Music counterparts.

The excitement only increased as the show went on. The 26-year-old Detroit rapper, who stands at a modest 5 feet 8 inches, was a giant on stage. Big Sean was a ball of energy, as he expressively rapped and danced along to his music as if he were enjoying himself as much as the concertgoers. 

“There’s good and bad college shows, but this one was definitely a good one,” Big Sean said during a post-show interview. “The energy was all the way through the roof.”

It was an audience Big Sean could relate to, he said. Though he chose fame over college, he has had his fair share of college party experiences.

“I got a different college experience than anybody because I’m one of the few people who’s been to pretty much 50 percent of college campuses in the country,” he said. “I’ve seen the different types of colleges and partied with all of them.”

The two artists complemented each other. As some of the most popular rap artists of the moment, both Big Sean and Wale — a definite musical staple of college parties — was familiar and well-received by the audience.

“We were dancing with random people; it was peaceful, it was hype and there were girls,” said Arturo Henriquez, a freshman engineering major. “People just wanted to have fun.”

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