As soon as Isaiah Rashad entered the doors into Schine Underground, the audience went wild, drowning out his hype man who introduced the up-and-coming rapper to the crowd. Rashad jumped on stage wearing a rose-covered scarf, immediately threw it off and began his wild set with “Ronnie Drake.”

University Union hosted Rashad, Pell and student DJ White Cliffs on Tuesday night for the final Bandersnatch Concert Series show of the school year. The show was an estimated four tickets away from selling out, said Rico Pedraza, co-director of the Bandersnatch Concert Series.

“I consider it really successful, considering the short time constraint,” said Pedraza, a sophomore in the Bandier Program for Music and the Entertainment Industries. “We really only had five days to sell — two before Spring Break and three after. Hell yeah, I enjoyed it. I think it was a great time.”

Audience members in the front row sang along to each word and threw their hands in the air. “TDE” covered the TV screens behind Rashad as he dropped beats on stage, paying homage to his record label, Top Dawg Entertainment, where he works with artists Kendrick Lamar and ScHoolboy Q — who he calls his “family” and “mentors.”

As soon as Rashad was done with his first track, he wasn’t afraid to interact and get close to the crowd.

“I don’t make the type of music where you jump around,” Rashad said to the crowd, stomping his feet to start off a new song.

One of the biggest hits of the night was “Heavenly Father,” which had students screaming Rashad’s lyrics back to him. The song has a deeper meaning for the rapper, as it was inspired by his father’s lacking presence in his life.

Rashad said his own relationship with his son is different because even though he’s on tour or working on projects in the studio, he has a role in his son’s life — despite his son’s mother living in Tennessee and Rashad working on the road.

About half of Schine Underground was full of hyped up students waiting eagerly for Rashad. When senior in the Bandier Program, Rafe Cohan, the student DJ who goes by the stage name White Cliffs, opened for the two rappers, the audience seemed confused by the different genre and talked throughout his set. It wasn’t until Pell came on that the audience came alive and followed his lead of waving their hands and dancing to his music.

Pell amped up the audience during the night by yelling, “Pell yeah?” and having the audience repeat back to him, “Pell yeah.” The rapper kept the exciting vibe alive by singing remixes and covers, such as Juvenile’s “Slow Motion.” His hype man on the keyboard behind him played for each song, while also managing the mix board.

Pell reflected on his hometown in New Orleans throughout his set, and how his relationship with the city after Hurricane Katrina, influenced his life.

“I’m trying to convey a sense of being inspired and taking what I’ve done, and what me and my team have done in becoming successful in what I wanted to do,” Pell said. “Sharing and being a light to people in New Orleans and people in Louisiana who aren’t getting that same light — showing them to be yourself, and you can come out of wherever you’re from.”

Pell ended his 30 minute set by taking a request straight from the crowd and sang his hit “Eleven:11.” Unusually, Rashad did not sing the last song of the night, but danced along with the crowd to Kendrick Lamar’s new song “Alright” and called out audience members who knew the lyrics to all of his songs throughout the show.

Published on March 17, 2015 at 11:09 pm

Contact Jackie: jmfrere@syr.edu | @jackie_frere