Brianna Lloyd | Correspondent

Sunday Oct. 23, NC State kicked off its Homecoming for the year 2016. Students all got excited as they wore NC State colors and got ready for the fun week of activities ahead. The week had a lot of fun events planned such as Penny Wars, where money was collected for a good cause; Scream on the Green, where students were able to grab their blankets and watch a fun Halloween movie; and a Red and White Week pep rally where everyone got pumped for the homecoming game against Boston College that Saturday. It was only halfway through the week when one of the most exciting events happened, the homecoming concert headlined by T.I.

That Wednesday night, hundreds of students stood outside in the crisp October air, as they waited for the time when people would be allowed in to claim their seats for the show. The doors opened around 7:30, and the crowd started to form a straight line for easier access to the doors. Students were frantically running up the stairs as everyone tried to grab the best seats that they could find.

As soon as people started getting settled in, a DJ walked onto the stage to play some music before the opening act came on. He tried to get the crowd up and moving by playing a lot of current hits such as: ‘Needed Me” by Rihanna, “Broccoli” by D.R.A.M, and “For Free” by DJ Khaled featuring Drake. While some of the crowd was excited, a lot of it seemed to be dead. The DJ then tried to switch things up by playing some older songs, which the crowd seemed to more. The started to stand up and dance along to songs such as: “Juicy” by The Notorious B.I.G, “Be Faithful” by Fatman Scoop, and “This is How We Do it” by Montell Jordan. Just as the crowd seemed to really get into the music, it was time for the opening act, Sonny Miles.

Miles really knew how to get the crowd excited. He sang a few of his own songs, but he got the whole crowd singing along when he sang his own rendition of Hotline Bling originally sung by Drake. He then brought out a young singer named Jasmine to sing a few songs with him. He decided to continue with Drake by singing one of his throwbacks, Sooner Than Later. The crowd seemed to really enjoy hearing his versions of these songs.Miles left the stage after a few more songs, and another DJ came on. The new DJ kept the vibe going after the artist left by playing more old school songs such as “Poison” by Bell Biv Devoe. You could hear the whole crowd singing along as he played “Caroline” by Amine. Concert attendees were only able to hear a couple more songs before the next opening act made his way to the stage.

The next opening act was MadeinTyo, a rapper signed onto T.I’s music label, Grand Hustle Records. He played a couple of his own songs, then rapped a few covers of songs by artists like 2 Chainz. He ended his set playing his most popular hit, “Uber Everywhere”.

Then the moment everyone was waiting for finally arrived: Clifford Harris, most commonly known as T.I., came on the stage. Harris came out, mic in hand, ready to start the show. He got the crowd hyped by starting out with some of his older songs like “You Don’t know Me” and “Take it Off”.  Harris then got the crowd singing along by playing his 2014 hit song, “No Mediocre”. He slowed it down a little by playing “Whatever You Like”. Then Harris brought the speed back up with, “Bring em Out”, and kept up the energy with his popular song “ASAP”.

Harris then took a break from singing by talking to the audience. He exclaimed to the students how he was proud of every single last one of us for getting our education. According to him, working hard to get a degree is one of the most important things young adults can do.

Harris went on to talk about the election. He prompted the audience to get out and vote and stressed the importance of a single vote. Harris told the crowd that every vote is important, and how this election is too important to waste our votes. He then expressed his disdain with Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump. A large part of the audience cheered in agreement, but another part booed him and preceded to leave the concert.

One of the most controversial parts of the concert was when Harris asked the audience to raise their hands if they felt that there was injustice in America. He said that people should be treated equally regardless of the color of their skin. He resumed his performance when he sang his song War Zone from his latest album that is centered around the Black Lives Matter movement, and the different social injustices. When the chorus came on and he repeated the words, “hands up, can’t breathe,” even more people began to leave in large groups.

It was obvious that Harris did not care that people were leaving his concert. He had a message that he wanted to get out to the world, and he wouldn’t let a few people who disagreed stop him. Some people in the crowd complained that he should not have been allowed to come. People seemed to be blaming NC State for allowing him to be our headliner if he was going to be political. Majority of the crowd stayed and enjoyed the rest of the concert. Harris decided to lighten the mood by playing his song “Live Your Life”, which has won multiple awards. He then almost made the standing audience into a mosh pit as he sang his Grammy nominated song, “What You Know.” He left the stage after that song, only to reappear and sing “Ain’t About the Money”, bringing the show to a close.

There were people in the crowd wearing shirts from NC State alumni Arlin Wallace’s clothing line “The Movement Merchandising” that said “Young, Black and Educated.”

Kamrie Risku, Executive Vice President of the UAB, said, “We had to go through varying channels to make sure our artist was approved.” NC State’s Union Activities Board has worked hard to make to make a concert that everyone would enjoy.

Majority of the crowd stayed and enjoyed the rest of the concert. Harris decided to lighten the mood by playing his song “Live Your Life”, which has won multiple awards. He then almost made the standing audience into a mosh pit as he sang his Grammy nominated song, “What You Know.” He left the stage after that song, only to reappear and sing “Ain’t About the Money”, bringing the show to a close.

Risku and many others wanted to show solidarity with Harris. She said, “Rap is such a cool thing that people love and appreciate, but often the people that are those rappers are not appreciated for their skin color and who they really are.” She wanted to take the opportunity to make a statement, which she and the rest of UAB did by wearing shirts by Wallace. “I’m young, black, educated, and I just want people to know that those three things can go together.”

*More photos from the concert can be found in our multimedia section*