VCU's Ram Fest: The Review | The Odyssey Online
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VCU's Ram Fest: The Review

The biggest night of VCU's Homecoming week in a nutshell.

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VCU's Ram Fest: The Review

I adore concerts and the whole immersive experience of it all, so I try to make it to as many as my wallet will allow me to go to. So, since VCU holds a concert right in our backyard I try to make it a priority to see it every year that I've attended. The annual homecoming concert, aka RamFest, is a huge event at VCU. Past headliners include Drake (way back in 2010), Kendrick Lamar (back in 2012), and of course a personal fave of mine, last semester's Chance the Rapper. This year brought Drake cosign recipient PartyNextDoor and hit hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd, soI knew I had to slide up in that situation.

First up was the band Bad Rabbits. Now I can't lie, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed their performance. I wasn't familiar with their music before the concerts, but I really wished that I had gotten hip so I could have been grooving along with them. They all are really incredible performers and kept the energy going for what seemed like forever. The singer had a great voice and was the most animated of the bunch; he was a joy to watch. I'd highly recommend them and I hope they blow up sometime soon so more people can appreciate them!

Here's one of my favorites from the concert; check it out if you'd like some funky tunes in your life.

Next, came JMSN (Apparently, you say it like Jasmine. I was calling them J-M-S-N for what seemed like forever). I feel like JMSN is one of those artists that I would randomly find on SoundCloud and put onto my chill-time playlists. Personally, I thought the music was dope. But I didn't think it was something that should be at a Homecoming concert. Usually, at Homecoming people want to turn up in which ever way they prefer and get as live as they can. JMSN just isn't that of music. But that doesn't make it any less good; It just was just the wrong music for that occasion, which is probably why he received such a negative reaction from the audience. I had a ticket for the pit and heard overwhelming boos from the crowd around me. I didn't think JMSN deserved that at all. I couldn't believe how rude a lot of people were being.


Anyway, I'd totally recommend JMSN. It's quality music.

And, his dance moves are absolutely incredible. They're on the level of Hotline Bling natural smoothness. I'm going to take notes.

Now, to the first headliner of the night, Rae Sremmurd. There's something about their music that's just incredible. It's infectious and so hype it's insane. And the best part about them, to me, is that every song is a smash. The energy level stays on infinity whenever you listen to Rae Sremmurd. Their performance was exactly that. An energizer bunny level of intensity. I thought it was great. Swae Lee and Slim Jimmy (the dynamic duo that make up Rae Srummurd) were a lot fun. They were hitting all the latest dance moves while pretty much starting up a party on stage.

The only criticism I had, and I have this with a lot of artists these days, is that I could tell there was a bit of lip syncing going on. But, most of the time, they would play the full songs from the speakers and rap over it. I just always thought that concept was weird to me. Like, why not play the instrumental and rap over that? But I digress. I still had loads of fun watching them perform. And, the best part of their performance, is that they had a little break in between to remind the audience to go vote...but not for Donald Trump (leading into their song Up Like Trump). Anybody who reminds people not to vote for Trump deserved to be commended.

You've probably heard of Rae Sremmurd by now, but here's a smash from their latest album that you might not have heard yet.


Now, the last headliner PartyNextDoor. PND is another case of great music that didn't quite fit the occasion. The Canadian bred crooner specializes in slow jam, emotional, baby-making type of music. I was already a fan of him going into this concert so I personally enjoyed the performance. There's a reason he's signed to Drake's label -- he's a quality musician. (Why ILoveMakonnen is on OVO Sound the world may never know)

I dug the chill vibe of it all; it felt like an intimate small-venue type of show. But since Homecoming is usually an event that people come to get hyped at, stadium music type of stuff, I didn't think that he was the right choice to close the show out. It's kind of like a roller coaster that went up, up, up, and then just ended up leveling out. PND wasn't the adrenaline drop that people were looking for to end Ram Fest.

But, like JMSN, that doesn't take away from the fact that it's quality music. It's just for a different type of event that warrants a chiller vibe. Yet again, I'd recommend. If you like The Weeknd or Miguel you'll probably enjoy PartyNextDoor.


Overall, I thought it was a good show. It was a nice fit into the hectic week of Homecoming. I just thought that maybe a switch of the concert lineup could have done the concert well and left the audience more satisfied. But, I'm glad RamFest put me onto some dope new music that I wouldn't have otherwise found.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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