{"id":19626,"date":"2015-11-03T18:09:39","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T00:09:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=19626"},"modified":"2015-11-05T21:44:38","modified_gmt":"2015-11-06T03:44:38","slug":"stars-light-up-the-night-at-wgcis-big-jam-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/stars-light-up-the-night-at-wgcis-big-jam-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Stars light up the night at WGCI’s Big Jam 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ariana LaBarrie<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Festival season ends when the leaves change color in Chicago and this year\u2019s season ended with a bang \u2013 cooler weather brought WGCI’s Big Jam 2015 to the United Center on Oct. 25.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Sponsored by WGCI, one of Chicago\u2019s urban contemporary stations, the annual concert featured Vic Mensa, Crucial Conflict, Do or Die, Twista, Lil Durk, Omarion, Dej Loaf, Rae Sremmurd, Monica, Meek Mill, Future and Kendrick Lamar.<\/p>\n

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A display of the acts for the WGCI Big Jam outside the United Center. (Ariana LaBarrie\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Excited fans filled the arena. (Ariana LaBarrie\/Medill) <\/figcaption><\/figure>
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The stage for WGCI’s Big Jam 2015 at the United Center. (Ariana LaBarrie\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Chicago native Vic Mensa performed songs like \u201cCoco Butter Kisses,\u201d \u201cU Mad, \u201d and \u201cFeel That.\u201d (Ariana LaBarrie\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Twista, a Chicago rapper, performed songs like \u201cSlow Jamz\u201d and \u201cSo Sexy.\u201d (Ariana LaBarrie\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Omarion performed many of his hits songs, including \u201cM.I.A,\u201d \u201cKnow You Better,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m Up.\u201d (Ariana LaBarrie\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Dej Loaf brought the audience to its feet when she performed \u201cBack Up.\u201d (Ariana LaBarrie\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Bryshere Gray from the television show \u201cEmpire,\u201d performs music under the stage name \u201cYazz.\u201d (Ariana LaBarrie\/Medill) <\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Rap duo Rae Sremmurd performed many of their singles from their debut album \u201cSremm Life.\u201d (Ariana LaBarrie\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Meek Mill had the crowd going wild when he performed his song \u201cLevels.\u201d (Ariana LaBarrie\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Future performed several songs from his mix tapes and albums, including \u201cCommas.\u201d (Ariana LaBarrie\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Kendrick Lamar rocked the house with his single \u201cKing Kunta.\u201d (Ariana LaBarrie\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

The lineup \u00a0featured many artists from Chicago, an important theme to the station and the audience. Music enthusiasts love these events because it allows fans to see several of their favorite acts on one ticket. There is a lull for this type of experience once festival season is over.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“WGCI is the home of hip-hop in Chicago and having Chicago artists like Vic Mensa, Lil Durk, Twista, Conflict, and Do or Die on the big stage is something we needed to do,” said Derrick Brown, Director of Urban Programming for WGCI\u2019s parent company, iHeartMedia Chicago.<\/p>\n

Even artists who hail from elsewhere,\u00a0 showed their Chicago devotion.<\/p>\n

“Chicago is one of my favorite cities,” said Dej Loaf, a Detroit native, during her performance.<\/p>\n

Chicago was also represented by a surprise performance from Bryshere Gray, who plays Hakeem on the hit series “Empire,” which films here. The crowd went wild and sang along to every word when Gray performed “Drip Drop,” a hit song from the show.<\/p>\n

While Chicago was celebrated on stage, so were the legacies of the artists on the bill. Musicians performed \u00a0past and present hits. Omarion, an R&B artist who got his start in the early aughts with the boy band B2K danced to that group\u2019s 2002 song “Bump, Bump, Bump.”\u00a0 The crowd shrieked in excitement. He treated them to songs from the beginning of his solo career – \u00a0“O” and “Ice Box,” and “Post To Be,” the single from his most recent \u00a0album “Sex Playlist.”<\/p>\n

Multi-platinum artist Monica, decked out in red hair and a fur vest, told the audience \u00a0she started in the music industry at age 13. She sang her classic hits like “So Gone,” “The Boy Is Mine,” and “Angel of Mine.” And she dropped in some tunes \u00a0from her upcoming album “Code Red.”<\/p>\n

Newer artists performed debut singles and new triumphs.\u00a0 Swae Lee and Slim Jimmy, of rap duo Rae Sremmurd, \u00a0recently ranked No. 5 on Billboard.com\u2019s \u201c21 Under 21\u201d list, rapped their first single “No Flex Zone.”\u00a0 They also performed their summer hit “This Could Be Us” and their latest single “Come Get Her.”\u00a0 Dej Loaf followed a similar formula, performing her debut single, “Try Me,”\u00a0 and songs from her EP “#AndSeeThatsTheThing,” like “Hey There.”<\/p>\n

These artists commanded the crowd’s attention, interacting with the audience by talking about their music in between songs. They kept the mood and the audience energized during their 15-minute sets by having the crowd out of their seats, singing every song as the artists playfully ran around the stage.\u00a0 The artists enjoyed themselves and their time on stage.\u00a0 Rae Sremmurd took a selfie at the end of the show with the crowd as a backdrop, a tradition they do at the end of each show.<\/p>\n

Kendrick Lamar carried the closing act with his signature mix of thumping beats with a socially conscious message. He opened with “Money Trees” from his 2012 album “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City.” and continued with hits like “Backseat Freestyle,” and “Poetic Justice.”\u00a0 The crowd went wild when they heard the first few beats of “M.A.A.D. City,” a popular song.\u00a0 Lamar also performed tracks from his newest album “To Pimp a Butterfly” with “Alright” and “King Kunta.”<\/p>\n

The kinetics of the concert continued as concert goers left the United Center chatting excitingly, uploading photos and videos of their favorite artists to social media accounts.<\/p>\n

Brown pronounced the event a success.<\/p>\n

“I thought it was an incredible event,\u201d he said about the sold out event.\u00a0 \u201cIt was one of the biggest ones we have done in the past 15 years. It was incredible how it panned out.”<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Monica performed an array of songs from her hits with three backup singers and a full band. (Ariana LaBarrie\/Medill)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ariana LaBarrie Festival season ends when the leaves change color in Chicago and this year\u2019s season ended with a bang \u2013 cooler weather brought WGCI’s Big Jam 2015 to the United Center on Oct. 25. Sponsored by WGCI, one of Chicago\u2019s urban contemporary stations, the annual concert featured Vic Mensa, Crucial Conflict, Do or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":19678,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,509],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-19626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-fall-2015","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"\nStars light up the night at WGCI's Big Jam 2015 - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/stars-light-up-the-night-at-wgcis-big-jam-2015\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stars light up the night at WGCI's Big Jam 2015 - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Ariana LaBarrie Festival season ends when the leaves change color in Chicago and this year\u2019s season ended with a bang \u2013 cooler weather brought WGCI’s Big Jam 2015 to the United Center on Oct. 25. 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