P.
That was the first line in the caption of the Student Association Programming Board’s (SAPB) Instagram post officially announcing Gunna as our headliner for Spring Fling 2022.
The “pushin P” singer will make waves as the first headliner in three years of no in-person Spring Fling concerts. And let us say, what a headliner indeed. The SAPB has historically opted for rap artists at Spring Fling, but Gunna brings a new level of popularity to our headliners.
SAPB is notorious for their ability to bring in up-and-coming artists who blow up in the years after performing, letting BU students brag about the fact that we saw them first. While we’re proud to have hosted artists like Doja Cat, Post Malone or Childish Gambino, Gunna is well established, with hits like “Drip Too Hard,” “P power” or “Lemonade.” Not to mention his many collaborations with artists including Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Baby or Young Thug. Having performed at Rolling Loud, Lollapalooza and Firefly Festival — some of the most popular music festivals music artists — Gunna brings unprecedented experience and fame to campus.
Set to perform on Saturday, April 30, Gunna will have two openers. Up first, of course, there is the winner of annual SAPB Battle of the Bands competition, which sees student musicians competing to open for the Spring Fling headliner. This year’s winner was a band called The Plasters, made up of four undergraduate students. Next will be Social House, a duo made up of Michael “Mikey” Foster and Charles “Scootie” Anderson, best known for their summer 2018 hit “Magic in the Hamptons.” More recently, their 2019 singles “Haunt You” and “boyfriend,” which features Ariana Grande, have also found fame.
The 2022 Spring Fling concert continues a year of long-awaited returns to in-person concerts at BU, with WILLOW being the first fall concert headliner in two years. Last year’s virtual Spring Fling hosted Two Friends and Aminé — two popular music acts — but even the animated chat section cannot compare to the energy of an in-person crowd.
This semester may also have less COVID-19 precautions in place, considering BU’s recent decision to lift the mask mandate indoors. Precautions that are still in place include hand sanitizer stations, optional masks and an outdoor venue, rain or shine. This means crowds can interact at a greater level, which benefits the experience for both audience members and performers. Whereas for WILLOW, students were socially distanced in “floor pods” of four to eight students, the potential to see students close together, especially if the concert should be held outdoors, is exciting. Hopefully, it will encourage higher attendance than we’ve seen at Spring Fling concerts of the past.
To have the opportunity to write not one, but two editorials praising the SAPB this year speaks volumes. Every aspect of the SAPB this year has observably stepped up from years previous, and students have surely noticed. To start, let’s take a moment to discuss the extraordinary visuals all over SAPB’s social media. With bold fonts, unique flyers and layout experimentation among these bright, color-coded posts, the SAPB’s Instagram flaunts vision like never before. Gunna’s announcement video was especially ingenious, with several of the 66 comments praising its production.
Since the Editorial Board last wrote about WILLOW, SAPB has also secured impressive acts including a conversation with Brian Baumgartner, who played Kevin Malone in “The Office,” “Hamilton” actor Javier Muñoz (to be rescheduled), “Saturday Night Live” comedians Alex Moffat and Mikey Day and musician Alice Longyu Gao. Today, on Thursday, April 7, students can attend the Jaboukie Young-White comedy show with Pat Regan in the Mandela Room.
Once again, thank you to the SAPB for their continued dedication to entertainment and student life on campus. Let’s hear it for this year’s board: Lucas Bianculli, Brian Cheng, Kimberly Garpestad, Daniel Rocabado, Olivia Le, Shira Geula, Katrina Chan, Jocelyn Phipps, Katie Dullaghan, Sean McManus, Sherry Huang, Victoria Manfredi, Krishnam Patel, Madeline Schalk, Tiffany Yee, Ian Fernandez and Sarah Crawford. You all have done an amazing job, and we especially look forward to Phipps and Rocabado’s continued work as future Student Association E-Board members.