Rapper A$AP Ferg will headline University Union’s annual MayFest concert in Walnut Park on April 25.

DJ AraabMUZIK will support A$AP Ferg and indie band Joywave will open the concert. MayFest starts at 1 p.m. and leads into Block Party, which will be held in the Carrier Dome at 7 p.m.

Undergraduate Syracuse University and State University of New York of Environmental Science and Forestry students can enter for free, while graduate students and guests can purchase tickets for $22 starting Thursday at 10 a.m. in the Schine Student Center Box Office.

Austin Thomas, one of the MayFest directors and a junior in the Bandier Program, said the MayFest artists reflect a desire to book a variety of sounds.

“We wanted to bring an extremely diverse lineup to appeal to the tastes of all the students on campus,” Thomas said.

While booking for MayFest and Block Party is done separately, the MayFest organizers take the Block Party lineup into consideration when booking acts, said Andrew Saltman, a MayFest director and a sophomore in the Bandier Program.

The directors took the Block Party lineup, which features electronic artist Zedd and rapper 2Chainz, into account when they booked MayFest.

“The goal is to have it be one fluid day,” Saltman said. “We don’t want you to be hearing the same stuff the whole day.”

MayFest will also feature DJ Thomas Jack hosted by RedBull MXT. Jack and student DJs will perform between the main stage sets. UU is still accepting submissions for student DJs, Saltman said.

A$AP Ferg released his first full-length album “Trap Lord” in 2013. It featured the hit “Shabba” for the Harlem-based rapper and member of the A$AP mob.

AraabMUZIK produces hip hop and trance music and has played with A$AP Ferg in the past, Saltman said.

Joywave released its first full-length album “88888” in 2013. The Rochester-based band was booked partly because of its local roots, Saltman said.

Published on February 26, 2014 at 8:48 pm

Contact Jacob: jspramuk@syr.edu