All aboard! The Gravy Train arrived at Kent State Thursday evening.

Yung Gravy, the certified platinum internet sensation known for his humorist songs such as “Mr. Clean” and “1 Thot 2 Thot Red Thot Blue Thot,” headlined the Undergraduate Student Government Homecoming Concert along with opener DJ Smillz. The rapper’s presence on campus caused a frenzy among students, including some who waited in line for hours to get front row.

“I really love Gravy,” said Molly Hagan, a junior marketing major who waited in line with friends for over eight hours. “I’ve been on that Gravy Train since high school. And I also just really want to touch Gravy.”

Hagan and her friends took waiting in the over 1,000 person line seriously. The group created a spreadsheet for food runs, brought blankets to keep warm and watched movies to pass the time.

“Because Kent is having such a big headliner I was very excited,” said Jadyn McPherson, a sophomore fashion merchandising major. “I definitely just wanted to see it and be up close.”

USG managed to sign Yung Gravy for $55,000, a number significantly less than the $140,000 paid to Quavo for his Flash Fest performance last spring. All 1,200 tickets for the event sold out in just two and a half hours, according to USG director of programming Matt Clark. Unlike with previous homecoming concerts, the decision was made to host the event in the Student Center Ballroom rather than the M.A.C.C. due to what was expected to be a smaller crowd size, at the time.

“We were booking this in like early to mid-June; at the time, this was about two to three weeks before Yung Gravy’s single ‘Betty’ came out which was his first song to actually go major in the charts,” Clark said. “And at the time, we did not feel that the M.A.C.C. being the size it is, it’s a 4,000 capacity venue, was appropriate for him. He’s grown a lot as an artist since we booked him.”

Gallery • 4 Photos

Alton Northup

DJ Smillz open for Yung Gravy at the Kent State Homecoming Concert on Thursday, September 29.

The rapper became an unsuspecting heartthrob since gaining millions of followers on TikTok where he boasts about being “your mom’s favorite” rapper. And while his love for older women is a central part of his persona that did not stop Gravy obsessed students from throwing articles of clothing onto the stage or asking him to sign their bodies for tattoos.

Yung Gravy returned the favor, staying true to his image, by tossing signed Lunchables and cereal boxes into the crowd. These items, specifically three different types of cereal and both pizza and lunch meat Lunchables, were outlined in his contract to be provided by the university.

Before ending his set Yung Gravy praised the energy that Kent students brought to his show and chose a side in the university’s rivalry with Akron.

“I did a show like this a while back in Akron,” the artist said. “Kent is definitely better than Akron!”

Alton Northup is a staff reporter. Contact him at [email protected].