Upcoming SPEC concerts will showcase rising artists

For Penn students, the music never stops. The Social Planning and Events Committee has put on three concerts this fall and two more are just over the horizon.

The upcoming Jazz and Grooves concert on Oct. 26 will feature indie hip-hop artist Star Slinger, while SPEC-TRUM, “To Represent Undergraduate Minorities,” will host a concert on Nov. 4, showcasing rappers Theophilus London, Kendrick Lamar and Meek Mill.

The line-up for both concerts features rising artists.

“A lot of mainstream artists don’t necessarily have a lot of creative control … you get a different perspective [from concerts like these],” College senior and SPEC-TRUM director Mulu Habtemariam said.

The Jazz and Grooves concert will be held in the ARCH building on 36th and Locust streets, which seats 200 students. The artists have a “hip-hop, electronic sound,” said Jazz and Grooves director Brandon Newberg, a Wharton junior.

Darren Williams or “Star Slinger,” the headliner for the concert, is on his first North American tour. He has been named one of the “Top 50 Bands of 2011” by New Music Express, a London-based magazine.

Slinger has worked with artists including Childish Gambino and Gold Panda, who was the Spring 2011 Jazz and Grooves headliner.

Electronic hip-hop artists Shlohmo and Shigeto will open for Slinger. Shlohmo’s first album of the year, Bad Vibes, was released in August to critical acclaim. Shigeto, who has mixed music for electronic artists Tycho and Mux Mool, plays the drums live and mixes his music on the spot.

Given low ticket price and choice of artists, there is “very little excuse” not to attend the concert, Newberg said, adding that the ARCH auditorium offers a “fun, intimate” experience.

Habtemariam expressed a similar sentiment about the SPEC-TRUM concert and encouraged students to see the “up and coming” performers before they become extremely popular.

“Now’s the perfect time to check [the artists] out,” Habtemariam said.

London’s music has a “hip-hop, electric sound” and is internationally acclaimed, Habtemariam said. In the past, London has performed at the Cannes Film Festival and the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

Lamar, on the other hand, blends “jazz and fusion to … hip hop,” Habtemariam said. Following the release of his mix tape Ignorance is Bliss, Lamar performed with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Game and worked on Dre’s newest album, “Detox.”

Mill is a Philadelphia-based rapper who has “come a long way from his freestyle days,” Habtemariam added in a statement. Since Meek has local following, SPEC is “banking on him to bring in the majority of the crowd,” he said.

Although College junior Elliot Rambach, who works at WQHS student radio, has heard of Theophilus London before, he said he would prefer to go to the Jazz and Grooves’ concert.

“There’s a better chance that I’ll go [to the Jazz and Grooves performance] — they do a better job of picking artists for a good show,” Rambach said.

Jazz and Grooves will offer discounted $1 advance tickets for Penn students. Members of the public will pay $10. Advance SPEC-TRUM concert tickets will cost $15 for Penn students and $20 for the public. Ticket sales for both shows will begin online this Monday and on Locust Walk later in the week.

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