The 2018 Class & Charter Day have represented a wide range of artists different in genre and style, hoping to appeal to a broad audience. Throughout the past five years, the chosen headliners have also had extremely different styles, offering students a variety of sounds throughout their time at Hamilton.
Last year, Lupe Fiasco headlined the concert in 2017, bringing his Chicago beats to the streets of uptown New York. The artist was an old favorite for most of the crowd, and Lupe let them indulge in a mix of both softer tunes and more hardcore rap, even throwing it back to the 2011 hit “The Show Goes On” twice. In a suprising coincidence, he also revealed his connection to the men’s soccer team as he gave a shout-out to the team’s coach.
The band Timeflies came to campus in 2016, consisting of two members that met as students at Tufts University. With a sound that could be described as a fusion of pop, hip-hop, and electronic dance music, they were most known for their hit “All the Way” and “Once in a While.” The campus welcomed the former rival NESCAC members and had an exciting time with these headliners.
The Chainsmokers stole the stage in 2015, giving a chance for the crowd to do a lot of jumping, listen to some really strong bass, and play with a bunch of inflatables (the latter being courtesy of CAB). Their most popular songs at the time were #SELFIE and Kanye. While Kanye himself wasn’t able to make it to the show (sources say he was too busy calling out Taylor Swift), the Chainsmokers duo brought a memorable and exciting experience for the campus community. In 2014, pop duo Capital Cities was the headliner for the concert. At the time, they were most known for their hit song “Safe and Sound,” playing a mixture of dance-pop, indie rock, and electropop. Someone should have told them that Clinton is definitely not the capital and not even a city, but the band still managed to offer students a great concert.
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis managed to make it up to the Hill in 2013, an impressive feat considering their fame at the time. Right before CAB revealed the artist for C&C Day that year, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis had been skyrocketing in popularity because of their hit song, “Thrift Shop.” It is no question what song the crowd rooted for all throughout their performance.
Evidently, the college has had success bringing popular artists who know how to rile the campus up and create one of the most exciting events of the year. With a set of incredibly talented artists to choose from this year, the question on everyone’s minds must be: who’s next?
