Grammy Award-winner and Atlantic Records hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco has been named
as the headline act for ‘Music Takes Action,’ Ferris State University’s benefit concert
on Saturday, April 23 from 2 to 6 p.m.
The event formerly known as Ferris Fest will raise funds to support Musicians on Call, a nonprofit organization that provides live musical entertainment, and recordings for those patients of healthcare facilities who are bedridden. Nicholas Smith, activities coordinator with Ferris’ Center for Leadership, Activities and Career Services, said there was a desire to increase awareness for worthy causes, and provide a platform to support them through this event.
“A large concert is already a great way to bring students and the community together in a social environment, but we wanted to do something more,” Smith said. “Working with Musicians on Call made perfect sense for our inaugural year of this event structure, since it’s a music-related cause.”
Rachel Bernstein is the Music Takes Action coordinator for Entertainment Unlimited, a registered student organization serving as the campus programming board. Bernstein said that EU surveyed students early in the academic year to identify what type of acts would be best for this event.
“The majority of responses favored hip-hop or rap, alternative, or pop music,” Bernstein said. “From there, we began to study what artists would be available at the time of Music Takes Action and how much they might cost. We put in our offer to Lupe Fiasco early this year.”
Fiasco will tour from mid-April to early May in support of his fifth studio album, “Tetsuo and Youth,” which was released in January 2015. Bernstein said that they have had a positive reaction since the artist made a social media post announcing his appearance at Ferris.
“We put it on our Facebook, and it went into the Ferris State Torch newspaper,” Bernstein said. “People have been coming up to me and saying, ‘We actually have a good artist coming.’ People on and off campus will keep getting excited ahead of the concert.”
Lupe Fiasco has earned Grammy Award nominations for two of his albums, 2006’s “Lupe Fiasco’s Food and Liquor,” and “Lasers,” released in 2011. Each recording received three nominations, and the song ‘Daydreamin’’ won a Grammy in 2008 for Best Urban/Alternative Performance.
PHOTO CAPTION: Lupe Fiasco, a Grammy Award-winning rap artist, has been named as the
headliner for Music Takes Action, a concert Saturday, April 23 on the Ferris State
University campus.