DURHAM – The Student Committee On Popular Entertainment (SCOPE) has announced Rae Sremmurd and Kenny Mason as performers for its April 21 concert. 

“This show feels amazing to drop,” said Harrison Flagg, SCOPE’s executive director. “We at SCOPE have been nose to the grindstone for months putting this together and are so happy to say this is going to be one of our biggest shows to date.”

The opener, Kenny Mason, is a rapper, singer-songwriter and producer who blends elements of grunge rock and hip hop in his diverse discography. After beginning a musical career at 19, the now 28-year-old broke out five years later upon the release of his single “Hit” in 2019. He has since released two albums, “Angelic Hoodrat” and “Ruff”, as well as featured on tracks like JID’s “Dance Now” and Dreamville Records’ “Stick”.

Headliner Rae Sremmurd is the hip hop duo of brothers Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi. Hailing from Tupelo, Mississippi, the pair signed with Mike Will Made It’s Ear Drummers record label (“Rae” backwards is “Ear”, “Sremmurd” backwards is “Drummers”) in 2013. The success of their 2015 debut album “SremmLife”, which went certified platinum, allowed the group to create their own label, SremmLife Crew Records, in 2016 – the same year their second album “SremmLife 2” was released. Their third studio album, “SR3MM”, dropped in 2018.

Tracks like “This Could Be Us”, “No Type” and “Swang”, among others, have also gone platinum and charted on the acclaimed US Billboard Hot 100, as well as other international trackers. What is perhaps Rae Sremmurd’s most well known song, “Black Beatles”, backdropped  the viral mannequin challenge trend in 2016, causing it to be certified seven times platinum. After a musical hiatus starting after 2018, the two have released five singles since last June in preparation for their upcoming album, tentatively titled “SremmLife 4”.

“Rae Sremmurd is releasing Sremmlife 4 soon and it couldn’t be better timing. Plus, Kenny being featured on the new Dreamville mixtape and JID’s new album is setting him up to skyrocket” Flagg said. “Both have been known to put on killer shows and now our minds are focused on setting it up for success.” 

The ticketing process will remain the same as last semester’s show, with online or in-person (MUB Ticket Office) sales beginning March 8 at 9 am. The costs are slightly different than in the Fall, with student prices being $15 for bowl seats and $28 for the floor and public tickets being $49 for the bowl and $69 for the floor.

Flagg also anticipates collaboration with the Campus Activities Board (CAB), much like last spring’s A-Lot show, on bringing vendors to the Whitt to enhance the performance.

“We are super pumped to be collaborating with CAB on some hospitality for attendees – to be announced soon we hope,” he said. “They are going to add some sweet aspects to the show to put a fun twist in the typical Whitt experience.”

The concert also marks the second straight show back in UNH’s Whittemore Center, something not done since 2018-19 when the building hosted Cheat Codes and Lil Skies in the fall and Lil Baby and JID in the spring. SCOPE decided not to pursue another outdoor spring performance primarily due to the high costs associated with putting on such an event. The move, they say, will allow the group to focus on the artist experience inside the Whitt as they hope to build on the success of last November’s Lil Tjay-headlined show.

“Last semester’s show was a total blast. I would say being able to be back at the Whitt for the first time since 2019 was a huge success in itself and the fact that the show had such a huge turnout perpetuated the excitement,” Anna Robinson, SCOPE’s publicity director, wrote in a text. “While more than half the organization had never done a show in the Whitt before, it was a great experience for everyone and now we’re all fully confident and prepared for the spring show! RAE SREMMURD MAN SO STOKED.”