North Texas Daily

Tim Cato / Web Editor

The UNT University Program Council announced today at noon that rapper J. Cole will be the featured artist at the anticipated spring concert.

UPC is spending $125,000 of the $150,000 allotted for the concert budget to bring him to UNT on April 24. The rest of the budget will go toward a two-day process, which includes setting up the Coliseum with equipment and lights, as well as paying for an opening artist, to be decided at a later date, UPC president and marketing senior Lucy Hill said.

“It felt so great getting to tell everything today,” Hill said. “We can scream J. Cole now instead of being secretive about it.”

In November, students voted for 10 artists who were available in UNT’s price range, determining the order of artists UPC would approach. J. Cole finished below the top three vote getters of pop rock band OneRepublic, pop artist Kesha and rock band Panic! at the Disco, respectively. However, those bands were not available or did not respond when UPC reached out to them.

The other artists in the original vote were Lifehouse, Queens of the Stone Age, Trey Songz, Spoon, A$AP Rocky and Wiz Khalifa.

Free tickets will be available for students starting March 31 at noon. Tickets are not open to the public, but faculty and staff can buy tickets for $25 starting on April 14. Students can also purchase a guest ticket on that day for the same price.

Hill said UPC’s goal is to provide 2,000 student tickets the first week and to sell out the 6,200 seats in the Coliseum before the date of the concert. On the day of the concert, the first 1,000 people can take a wristband that allows them to stand on the floor of the Coliseum and be closer to the stage.

J. Cole’s last album, “Born Sinner,” debuted at No. 2 and moved up to No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. He is a hip hop artist, songwriter and record producer who released his first mixtape, “The Come Up,” in 2007.

Hill said J. Cole and his managers accepted the offer in January, but had to finalize the contract between the two parties before officially announcing it.

Limited free parking will be available in Lot 20 near Fouts Field after 5 p.m. on April 24. The concert will begin at 8 p.m.

Student’s opinions were mixed on the results. Psychology senior Sarah Money voted for OneRepublic and didn’t know who J. Cole was, but said she would probably go with a friend since it was free.

Communication studies junior Cody Armstrong said his three votes went to Kesha, OneRepublic and Panic! at the Disco. He hasn’t heard of J. Cole and does not plan on attending.

Accounting junior Robert Jackson voted for J. Cole and has been listening to his music for about six months. He said he’ll go with a group of his friends and is excited for the concert.

Feature image: UPC announced J. Cole as the artist for the spring concert on Twitter on Thursday at noon. Photo courtesy of UPC.