Trouble Kidd, Wolfpack, Kiiara In, B.o.B Out

GILLIAN REINHARD ’20
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

EAC Barnyard announced their Spring Weekend lineup this Monday, featuring DJ Trouble Kidd (Jervon Adams Jr. ’20), Wolfpack (Alex Wolfson ’19 and Stew Williams ’18) and headliner Kiiara, who is best known for her 2015 hit “Gold.”

The announcement, four days before the concert, comes under controversy after rapper B.o.B was not confirmed to be the Spring Weekend performer by several Barnyard members over the weekend. This confirmation came after a Tripod article explored the offensive and anti-Semitic remarks made in his lyrics, particularly the song “Flatline.” Several members of Barnyard have individually confirmed to members of the community that B.o.B was not, and never was, the Spring Weekend headliner. Some members of Barnyard have even suggested that B.o.B was never considered for the position.

Interested students, not affiliated with the Tripod staff, have spoken to manager and booking agent for B.o.B, TJ Chapman. Three different calls to the rapper’s liaison were documented to the Tripod. In these calls, the students report that TJ Chapman confirmed B.o.B had entered a legally binding contract to perform at Trinity College and was canceled. One of the students has reported that Chapman told him that Trinity had entered a financial deal with B.o.B. and that $30,000 to $35,000 may have been paid for the performance. At this time, this claim cannot be verified, as several attempts made by those students to reach out to Ryan Thomson of CAA (Creative Artists Agency), official representative of B.o.B, went unanswered as the agent is on vacation for the week.

Spring Weekend has been a particularly turbulent event for the College. After a petition calling for Action Bronson to step down as headliner garnered over 1,000 signatures, the act was canceled. In talks with representatives of Kiiara, an assistant suggested over the phone to the Tripod that costs for hiring a performance of the artist would cost around $15,000 to $20,000, significantly cheaper than the reported costs of a potential B.o.B performance.

Barnyard released its artists for Spring Weekend 2017 to the community on March 29. This year’s public announcement regarding a headliner comes just a few days before the performance.

DJ Trouble Kidd and Wolfpack were both picked as a result of the Barnyard-organized “Battle of the Student DJs.” After the concert featuring Kiiara on Friday, the Mill will offer their SpringFreaked Concert. On Saturday, Barnyard will host a carnival on the LSC quad with food trucks and games.

When pressed for comment, EAC Barnyard President Bianca Shea ’18 said that she had no comment in relation to B.o.B, but did add that “(she) is so excited for the concert this Friday with artist Kiiara and hope that you are too!”