Hip-hop artist Drake will be the headline artist for 2010’s Block Party, University Union announced in an official statement Tuesday. The opening acts will be Francis and The Lights and K-OS. An additional guest, yet to be announced, will provide a middle act for the event.

Block Party, an annual concert hosted by UU that features multiple musical artists, will take place April 30 at the Carrier Dome. Doors will open at 7 p.m. and the show will begin at 8 p.m.

Drake, the artist behind Billboard Hot 100 songs ‘Best I Ever Had’ and ‘Every Girl,’ will be visiting the Carrier Dome during his ‘Away From Home’ tour, part of the fifth annual Campus Consciousness Tour. The Campus Consciousness Tour, which promotes environmentalism and is produced by Pretty Polly Productions, provided UU with Guster for the 2009 Block Party.

‘There was never any intention to bring Campus Consciousness, but we were super excited to see that they were coming back around,’ said Kevin Manley, one of UU’s directors of concerts. ‘It just so happened that they had Drake for the tour.’

After featuring alternative rock artists Ben Folds and Guster at Block Party 2009, UU will return to the tradition of showcasing hip-hop and popular music artists, which have included Kanye West and Fergie.

UU received an overwhelming student response to bring a hip-hop artist for this year’s Block Party, UU President Darren Goldberg said.

‘A big factor of it was a survey that was taken by the student body,’ Goldberg said. ‘The result of the survey came back in strong favor to have Drake be the headliner.’

Accompanying Drake on his campus tour, underground Canadian hip-hop artist K-OS and pop band Francis and the Lights will provide the opening sets at this year’s Block Party.

The additional middle act will be separate from the Campus Consciousness Tour and exclusive to SU. Details for the artist have not yet been finalized, but a fourth act will happen, Goldberg said.

‘That’s what’s going to separate us from the other 20 schools,’ said Deniece Holley, another UU director of concerts. ‘It’s that we’re going to have a big middle act in addition to Drake.’

The extra artist’s identity will be announced next month, UU said in an official statement.

‘We’re looking to put on one of the bigger shows that Syracuse has seen in a while, and we keep getting strong responses from the students about what they want to see,’ Goldberg said. ‘We’re seeing that this year – we really hit what the campus wants.’

ansteinb@syr.edu

Published on February 23, 2010 at 12:00 pm