Puerto Rican rap artist Fat Joe introduced a mix of hip-hop and Latin flavor to the College as he brought down the house at Kendall Hall last Thursday night.
After an hour-and-a-half delay, MCs from Frontline hit the stage and it was almost 10 p.m. when Fat Joe came out. Yet the crowd felt that it was worth the wait.
"It was a good time, it would have been better if Fat Joe came out earlier though," Matt Weckstein, freshman computer science major, said.
As soon as Fat Joe and the Terror Squad hit the stage, the crowd jumped out of their seats. Fat Joe's set included songs from his latest album, "Loyalty" and also some old favorites.
Fat Joe started off the night with "Bust at You" and "Take a Look at My Life," from his album "Loyalty." With various members of the Terror Squad on-stage with him at all times, there was never a quiet moment.
Fat Joe kept the audience entertained inbetween songs with a mix of comedy and seriousness. He joked about what a dangerous stage Kendall had and then he turned serious as he spread a message of love.
"I want to give a shout out to everybody who's out here, whether you're black, white, Arab or French," Fat Joe said.
Tony Sunshine shared the mic with Fat Joe on various songs, including "All I Need," a song they dedicated to the ladies. The ladies in the audience screamed as Sunshine sang, "I need somebody who stick by me in the good times and the bad times."
Another one of the crowd favorites was "What's Luv," Fat Joe's duet with singer Ashanti. Since Ashanti's voice was only present on tape, the women in the audience filled in her parts throughout the song.
Fat Joe turned serious again as he asked the audience to flash a peace sign in the air to remember artists that have died. He mentioned Biggie Smalls, Tupac, Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopez and his good friend, Big Pun. He sang a short version of Big Pun's "Still Not a Player" in memory of his friend.
Fat Joe ended his set by turning to his Latino roots.
"I'm going to give you some Spanish flavor, even though I know not everyone here is Spanish," he said before exploding into song.
"Everything went pretty well," Serulle said. "It was one of the best events we've ever had."
Serulle also commended Uni?n Latina's (UL) executive board for putting this event together in three weeks. The hard work paid off as the event ran smoothly and UL hopes it inspires other campus organizations to coordinate large events.
"According to Frontline Entertainment, we were one of the best schools they have worked with as far as organization. We wanted to show other campus groups that if UL can put together an event like this, anyone can," Serulle added.
The event was sponsored by UL as part of Latin Awareness Month and was open only to students. According to Yasser Serulle, current president of UL, all 759 of the available tickets were handed out to students.
Serulle said that the idea of bringing Fat Joe to the College was brought to UL by the brothers of Lambda Theta Phi.
"UL was originally thinking of bringing another artist to campus, but they were on tour. We came together with Lambda Theta Phi to work this event out," Serulle said.
