Detroit MC Big Sean performed at IU Auditorium last night for the official 2015 Little 500 concert.
The show opened with two short performances from Brooklyn, N.Y., singer Justine Skye and Christopher.
The auditorium was largely empty when Skye began her set, but crowds continued to pour in as she sang. After about 20 minutes of singing and dancing with her two backup dancers, she left the stage.
By the time the lights went down again and Christopher’s disc jockey began playing, most of the audience members had found their seats. The DJ spun hit songs from Kendrick Lamar to DJ Khaled, and a lot of the crowd danced around, chanting the words along with the tracks.
Christopher kept the energy going when he jumped onto the stage. Several times during his set, the MC took his raps to the auditorium floors amidst screaming fans and ?outstretched arms.
YG walked out in a custom IU hockey jersey after an introduction from his DJ. The jersey labeled the Compton, Calif., MC as No. 400, the block number YG comes from on Spruce Street. By the time he began his set, the auditorium was filled to the brim.
Concertgoers danced and sang along, bleeding in to the aisles with security occasionally succeeding in sweeping people back into their rows.
YG performed everything from his most popular hit songs to a freestyle rap over the beat to fellow West Coast MC Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode.”
IU student Matt Murray said he mainly came to the show to see YG.
“I’ve seen Big Sean before, but I haven’t seen YG,” he said. “I really like West Coast ?hip-hop.”
A wall of fog built up, and the LED screens that covered the massive DJ stand onstage flashed images of storm clouds and lightning.
Big Sean appeared standing atop the DJ stand and rapping “Paradise,” the second single from his latest album “Dark Sky Paradise.”
The Detroit MC released “Dark Sky Paradise” in February, and the album peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The album stayed in the chart’s top 10 for another two weeks after.
Big Sean performed songs from his whole career: the new hits and the mixtape songs.
IU student Teaira Charlton said she came to hear the old songs.
“I loved him when he had mixtapes, but then fell out when he started making albums,” she said.
She also said she wanted to enjoy the performance and wasn’t there to party.
Big Sean also performed songs by other MCs he had been featured on. In front of a parking garage landscape on the LED screen, he rapped Kanye West’s 2012 single “Mercy.”
IU student Drew Wong said he wasn’t a huge fan of Big Sean, but he came to the concert to have a good time with his friend.
Wong said he had one goal at the show: “Just have fun ?before finals week.”
