Looks like the University of Rhode Island will be saying “Hey, what’s up? Hello” to recent two time Grammy nominated rap artist Fetty Wap this coming January 2016.
Wap is set to hit the stage of The Ryan Center Fri., Jan. 29, brought to the university by the Student Entertainment Committee (SEC). Pre-sale tickets for URI students started earlier this week, and within an hour of being released, general admission floor tickets sold out.
“I’ve been in this line for 37 minutes and it is well worth the wait,” URI freshman Cassie Chartier said. Tickets went on sale early Monday morning at 10 a.m. on the Ryan Center website, box office, and the Memorial Union box office for students. Students were seen rushing to all areas to purchase tickets early that morning, and some claimed that general admission floor tickets sold out online 16 minutes after the start time.
Luis Alderete, URI sophomore, said he got lucky; a friend of his scored tickets that Monday afternoon.
“I only waited in line for about 30 minutes because my friend saved me a spot in line,†Alderete said. “It’s definitely worth it though no matter how long you wait especially for that cheap of a ticket.”
Around noon on Monday, 2,500 tickets were sold according to Michael Nolfe, SEC advisor. He said bringing Fetty Wap was something that the SEC Concerts Committee discussed as someone they wanted to see. Nolfe said the committee started looking into bringing Wap to the university at the beginning of the semester, and are very excited that they were able to book him.
Wap, originally known as Willie Maxwell II, is from Paterson, New Jersey. He had 21 songs released in 2015, including his most popular hits, “Trap Queenâ€, “679†and “My Way.â€
Early Monday morning in the midst of students’ eagerness to purchase Wap’s tickets, Grammy nominations were also released. Wap received nominations for best rap performance and best rap song.
According to Daily News, earlier this month Spotify announced that ‘Trap Queen’ was 2015’s most streamed song of the year. Wap also released a five-track EP on Nov. 30, which he put together in less than a day. According to ‘Entertainment Weekly’, Wap surprised his fans with a the EP, titled “For My Fansâ€. He told “Entertainment Weekly†that he put the EP together in less than 12 hours, soon after he decided he needed to give “Fetty Wap supporters a little present.”
Michelle Caramadre, SEC Concerts President is also very excited and thankful to have such a big name come on campus for her last year as president of the committee.
“It was honestly quite a struggle to get him here,” Caramadre said. “But I’m glad we were able to stick with our first choice. Bringing acts that the students want to see is our main goal and I’m happy to be able to provide that for the campus.”
General admission floor tickets are sold out, but general admission seat tickets for the show are currently available for the public at $37 and $27 for students.