Dorm Life Tour brings the beats to Willkie

The hallway outside the Willkie Auditorium was crowded Friday with a sea of white.

Students clad in white T-shirts, pants and even a white fur vest waited outside as hip-hop beats radiated through the doors of the auditorium.

After a technical glitch set the show back a half-hour, the doors finally opened to the College Dorm Life Tour. Students poured inside, singing along to “Best I Ever Had” by Drake.

Kiwan Lawson of SoundProof Student Organization and Joby Wright of BFA Entertainment organized the tour. The evening was scheduled to be packed with R&B and hip-hop acts from start to finish.

The first half of the night was filled with dance. IU’s Hip Hop ConnXion was the first act to perform.

Morgan Milin, freshman and first-year member of Hip Hop ConnXion, said it was amazing to perform, and he said the energy is always better with the crowd and performers when there is a big stage and lights.

Lawson said every group took advantage of the added stage and lighting, which added to their presentation.

The next two dance groups to perform, Dynasty and Incognito, were both from Indianapolis.

Lawson said it was slightly difficult to get many students out to support Bloomington artists, but those who did attend loved it. This passion and enthusiasm was visible in attendees’ desire to dance along to music and sing every lyric of every song played.

DJs came on stage between each act, encouraging energy to stay high with lyrics like “put some energy up in this place”.

The energy continued throughout the night, and shaped the course of performances, Lawson said. After a spontaneous dance-off between a crowd member and group member of Incognito, another battle broke out. Dynasty challenged Incognito to a
dance battle.

The crowd parted and the two groups took over the center of the auditorium floor, challenging each other with their best moves, spins and even backflips. Freshman Danielle Graf said she came for the loud music and lights but ended up getting much more out of it.

“I want to learn how to dance after seeing these guys perform like this,” Graf said.

After the dance groups, hip-hop and R&B acts took the stage. Lawson said from the southern hospitality of Dat Boi Heazy to Yung Luciano’s ability to get the crowd on their feet, the audience loved every performance.

The evening closed out with what Lawson claimed to be three standout performances. Lawson said Rikk Reighn and Lakyra Pharms both delivered stellar performances.

“Lakyra stood out with her smooth, soulful, jazzy, one-of-a-kind voice that blew everyone away,” Lawson said.

A Bloomington group was the last on stage for the night.

“4 Reign delivered a 40-minute performance that could arguably be compared to Boyz II Men or Day26. They ended the event showing everyone why they are the best R&B male group on campus,” Lawson said.

Though the crowd changed throughout the night in Willkie Auditorium, Lawson marked the concert as the iconic event they promised the campus.

“Had we been able to extend the show, I believe attendees would have packed the room,” he said.

The tour is scheduled to stay in the Midwest briefly before heading south to Florida, Georgia and Mississippi. Lawson said he hopes to have the tour back next semester for an appearance during the Little 500 weekend.

Campus support is crucial to the success of these artists, he said, and he said he believes they have what it takes to make it big.