DePaulia
The
Volume #106 | Issue #27 | May 31, 2022 | depauliaonline.com
FEST IS BACK, BABY LESLIE WILLIAMSON | THE DEPAULIA
bbno$ performs as the opener for 2 Chainz at the first fest since 2019. In his iconic pink beanie, bbno$ raps “Lalala”, one of his most popular songs.
bbno$ rocks quad, talks career future By Lily L owndes Social Media Editor
Bbno$, pronounced baby no money, walked onto the FEST stage wearing a white tank top, white bomber jacket, pleated green pants and his signature pink toque — that’s what Canadians call a beanie. The Vancouver native was the opener for this year’s DePaul FEST. FEST is DePaul University’s annual end-of-the-year concert organized by The Office of Student Involvement (OSI) and DePaul Activities Board (DAB). It is one of the oldest music festivals in the city of Chicago, preceding Lollapalooza by six years. Although FEST was put on hold for the past two school years due to Covid-19 shutdowns on campus, the concert was brought back once again. Every year, both student performers and established artists are featured in the concert lineup. This year, the opener was Alexander Gumuchian, the man behind the rap persona bbno$. Bbno$ started out by making fun music with friends to upload on SoundCloud, until he found prominent success overseas in China and committed to launching his career. Since then, bbno$ has developed a cult following domestically and internationally. He’s found mainstream success, charting on Billboard and going viral on TikTok. His dedicated fanbase sports his signature pink toque at his shows, singing along to every word. A few toques could be spotted in the crowd as the sun started to set on the Lincoln Park quad ahead of bbno$’s set.
Students celebrate end of the school year concert
By Leslie Williamson Students gathered at the FEST barricade to get close to the Canadian rapper. His Staff Writer high-energy performance consisted of a mix of recent releases, including “matheAs a sea of students took over the quad matics” and “piccolo,” along with a selec- for a night full of music, DePaul reignited tion of songs made with his frequent col- a school tradition: for the first year since laborator and fellow rapper Yung Gravy. 2019, FEST was back. In an exclusive inOn Friday eveterview with The Dening, DePaul hostPaulia, bbno$ named ed performances his top three favorite from bbno$ and 2 songs to perform: Chainz for an end “help herself,” “Lalaof the school year la,” and “edamame.” celebration. FEST During his headbrings in artists for lining shows, he enstudents to see perjoys singing the lullform at affordable ing melody of the prices and has been breakup song “help an annual event at herself ” with his fans. DePaul longer than At FEST, he invited Lollapalooza has the audience to “cry been in Chicago. Abram Camarena together” as he perBut after being canDePaul junior formed the sad hit. celed for two years Also in his top due to Covid-19, three were two familfor most of the curiar crowd favorites. rent student body, “I’d be stupid to not say ‘Lalala’ or ‘eda- this school tradition was a new experimame,’ because they’re my biggest songs,” ence. the rapper said with a smile. Gwen Ashworth, a sophomore at DeBoth tracks blew up on streaming and Paul, had never had the opportunity to social media due to their hypnotic me- attend FEST before. lodic flows. On TikTok alone, the songs “I didn’t really know FEST existed un“Lalala” and “edamame” have been used til this year,” Ashworth said. in 13 million videos combined. Abigail Adan, another DePaul sophoAt the end of bbno$’s set, the audience more waiting in line with Ashworth, was buzzed as the familiar intro to “Lalala” also experiencing FEST for the first time. started to play. “I had a bunch of older friends that came to DePaul and they were hyping See bbno$, page 20 up FEST so much from their past years,”
It feels like DePaul as a community is able to come back together after Covid.
Adan said. “They said it was one of the best things about DePaul. I was really excited for that, and to have the first year go down the drain was really sad.” Although many weren’t sure what to expect, the event had still built up excitement among students. “You’re anticipating this the entire time, you’re voting for it, and you’re a part of the whole process in a way,” Adan said. “It’s like one last hurrah with friends before they go home for the summer.” Tents with donuts and pizza, free neon-colored FEST gear and bubbles transformed the quad into a mini music festival. Students began to roll in, wearing either comfy collegiate sweatshirts or their best festival outfits, posing for photos in glittery eyeliner. As the quad began to fill, student bands Any Two Words, Minivan and rapper 404KRAZY warmed up the crowd for the first few hours before the main performers took the stage. Canadian rapper bbno$ opened the main show at 7 p.m., where students jumped to viral songs like “edamame” and “Lalala.” He brought a funky sense of humor as he interacted with the crowd throughout his performance, reading recipes aloud from a cookbook, snacking on Cheez-Its tossed from the crowd and even bringing a student on stage to rap featured artist Yung Gravy’s verses in his songs. As the sun went down, anticipation began to build. Finally, headliner 2 Chainz took the stage. The audience brought the energy as they jumped under flashing
See FEST, page 20