Outkast’s Big Boi to perform solo show

Senior Alyce Bryant said she is excited such a big celebrity is coming to IU.
That celebrity — Outkast’s Big Boi will perform Friday in Bloomington.

“Honestly, I didn’t know he was a solo artist until I heard his album this summer,” Bryant said. “I love every single song on the CD.”

Big Boi released his debut solo album “Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty” in July 2010.

“I feel like he’s the biggest artist to come to IU ever,” Bryant said. “I’ve seen the Ying Yang Twins, Ludacris, Young Joc, but I’m more excited to see Big Boi.”

She also said she thinks Big Boi is underexposed and should have a larger fan base.
“Kids like more pop-rap artists like Lil Wayne, Akon, T.I.,” Bryant said. “Big Boi is better than all of them.”

Junior Shaqib Habib, president of the Business Careers in Entertainment Club, said Big Boi was an easier artist to book because he is not as mainstream as other artists.

“Big Boi is not that well known unless you like that genre or know him from Outkast,” Habib said.

BCEC member and senior Deuce Thevenow helped organize GLOWFest for Little 500 last year, and since June, he has been working hard with BCEC, Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity and JS Marketing to bring another big name artist to Bloomington’s campus.

“It was all last minute. BCEC was planning GLOWFest again, and Skulls, Phi Kappa Sigma, wanted to do Fall Fest. They didn’t have a venue, and we didn’t have an artist, so why not pair up?” Thevenow said.

The concert was not confirmed until Sept. 13.

“Honestly, I don’t think it’s going to be as popular as Glowfest,” Habib said. “We only had two to three weeks to promote the concert, and that didn’t give us that much time.”

Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity president Mike Slott said he hopes to have as many people come as possible.

“We thought we’d have it on a different weekend than Homecoming or Little Five,” Slott said. “People who come into town for the Michigan game can do something different.”
Slott, who saw Big Boi perform at “Rock the Bells” in Long Island, N.Y. in 2009, said he is a huge Outkast fan.

“Hopefully we’ll see a lot of IU students come out to see him because he always puts on a good show,” Slott said.

Chris Figgy, a member of the duo David Costa, will be an opener. A week ago, Figgy performed at the Chicago Theater with Big Boi.

“It’s cool performing with a legend,” Figgy said. “Sharing space with him is an honor. You can’t really describe it too much.”

Figgy said Big Boi was on top of his game in Chicago, performing songs off his new album and old school Outkast albums. So don’t worry Outkast fans, Slott said he will be performing both solo and Outkast material.

“I want everybody to have a great time so they have a story to tell for the rest of their life,” Figgy said.