Crowds began lining up an hour and a half before the performance in order to get a good spot for Key Glock, the south Memphis rapper headlining FlashFest 2024. The line wrapped all around the second floor of The Student Center, as people gathered early for their spot in the ballroom.

Students packed the ballroom until DJ Smillz, the athletics DJ for Kent State, came out to get the crowd hyped up. Smillz said he always tries to match the vibe of the artist when opening for someone. 

“It’s a balance, learning how to balance and cater to every crowd that’s projected to be there,” Smillz said. 

DJ Smillz has opened for past concerts at Kent, and he said he always tries to meet the crowd to get them properly hyped up. He said he already had a plan before the concert on what to play to get people hyped for Key Glock.

“Bass-bumping music — you know, everybody wants that if you’re listening to Key Glock, you want to listen to it loud,” Smillz said. 

Smillz came out strong and started off by playing “First Person Shooter” by Drake followed by “Shake Yo Dreads” by Sexyy Red. The crowd rocked the barricade until Smillz opened up the stage to Key Glock.

Dion Leeks, Key Glock’s tour manager, said they were excited and wanted to put on a real show for Kent State.

“It’s gonna be dope, real dope. Kids like to have fun and we’ll be able to really pick it up,” he said.

Leeks said they do several college shows a year, and that it’s a different vibe from a big music festival. 

“This is like our fifth or sixth college show of the year,” he said. “It’s a different atmosphere but it’s fun. The fanbase is similar, though.”

After a sound check, Key Glock rushed out onto state accompanied by his dancers. He started the night by playing “Gang Shit No Lame Shit,” then “Let’s Go,” his most recent single. 

He worked backwards through his discography, continuing onto playing songs from the album “Glockoma 1.” He ended the night with an encore of “ Let’s Go” to finish the concert strong. 

Brian Johnson, the Director of Programming for Undergraduate Student Government, sat down with his team to talk about putting together the concerts for FlashFest. On his team were Jacqueline Johnson, a senior in aeronautical studies, Makayla Jenifer, a senior in sports administration and Allie Stokes, a junior in business management. 

Johnson said a friend recommended Key Glock and he decided to reach out to see what it would cost to bring him in. Johnson and his team choose the artist for concerts from a list based on price and availability. Johnson said the setlist this semester had almost 200 names on it. 

“I had every single one of my committee members do research on everybody that was on that list to give us a more diverse perspective on artists. They looked at followers and how popular someone was, or listeners on Spotify,” he said. “There’s actually a lot of people I follow that go to Kent that already follow Key Glock, so I thought that was a bonus.” 

Johnson said Key Glock was open during the timeframe, within their budget and extremely popular, making him a good fit for FlashFest. 

“He’s not doing anything right now. He’s on tour later this year but he doesn’t have any music festivals or anything right now. We work with whatever their availability is.” 

Jacqueline Johnson spoke about the difficulty of putting on concerts for students.

“They look pretty easy from the outside, but once you get in they’re actually pretty hard to put on,” she said. “You can’t please everyone when picking someone for concerts, so it’s about finding someone who you think collectively the school will enjoy.” 

Allie Stokes said it was important for them to think on their feet when planning a concert because things changed so fast. 

“A lot of stuff behind the scenes changes really fast. This concert was supposed to be in the MAC and now it’s in the ballroom. Adapting to different things and changing what we plan is just really important,” Stokes said. “There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes, but it’s a really fun job being on the committee.”

Andrew Bowie is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].