Relays show will host rapper Common

Hip-hop artists Common, Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek are scheduled to bring their soulful vibes to this year's seventh annual Penn Relay's Concert on Friday, April 27. SPEC-TRUM -- the Social Planning and Events Committee To Represent Undergraduate Minorities at Penn -- recently announced its lineup for this year's Penn Relays weekend concert. In the past, the highly anticipated concert has attracted many big names, including Jay-Z, the Fugees, Busta Rhymes and, last year, Method Man and Redman. "We have a tradition of getting cutting edge music that the entire Penn community can enjoy," Richmond said. "We wanted to go for more hip-hop this year," SPEC-TRUM co-director Aaliyah Richmond said. "In choosing a line-up we thought that Common would appeal most to the Penn students." The Chicago-born lyricist was SPEC-TRUM's first-choice pick as a headline act. His latest album, Like Water for Chocolate, was nominated for a Grammy and featured collaborations with artists such as D'Angelo, the Roots and Macy Gray. Adding to this stellar name are the underground hip-hop artists Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek. These performers were described in SPEC-TRUM's statement as knowing "how to get the crowd hype and into their groove, thirsting for more after they step off the stage" and a "testament to the heat they bring to the hip-hop fire spreading around the world." In a field of prospective performers, such as Mos Def and Mystikal, Common and Kweli and Hi-Tek were chosen not just for their availability, but for their combined musical vibe. "We're trying to bring out the neo-soul movement that has been happening in music," SPEC-TRUM co-director Erika Parkins said, in reference to the theme of this year's concert -- "The Resurrection of Hip-Hop 2001." "Their lyricism has a nice flow," she added. The concert, which is being promoted on radio throughout the Delaware Valley and New York, has unconfirmed sponsorship by Coca-Cola, Vibe magazine and The Source magazine. "This is our biggest event of the year -- the most well-known," Parkins said. "The energy behind it is spectacular." As opposed to last year's concert -- which was held in the Class of 1923 Ice Skating Rink -- this year's venue will be the freshly minted Wynn Commons. Wynn Commons was chosen because "it was a better place to enjoy the show," said Richmond. "People can get up and dance a little." Yet the concert could go to a different venue depending on the weather. But "rain or shine, the concert will go on. That's true hip-hop," Richmond added. Tickets will be on sale at the Annenberg Center box office, on TicketMaster and on Locust Walk and cost $20 with a college ID card and $25 for the general public.