Maddie Moore/East Tennessean

ETSU students flocked to Freedom Hall on Oct. 7 to hear A Boogie Wit da Hoodie and Shelailai at the Student Government Association fall concert. The evening was filled with excitement, as the crowd sang along to old favorites with A Boogie and enjoyed new hits from Shelailai.

“I’m so happy to be here y’all,” Canadian-Caribbean hip-hip artist Shelailai said to kick off the concert. “Happy to be in Tennessee!”

She continued to play some of her biggest hits, including No Touchy, London’s Burning, GOODTIMES, Don’t Need Him and BAD.

“Can I play a new song for y’all?” Shelailai said during her performance. The crowd responded with enthusiastic cheers.

“I love testing them out with live audiences,” Shelailai said in a post-show interview. “It’s kind of special, because they get to be the first ones to hear it.”

Shelailai has been pursuing music as a career for around two years. During that time, her music has grown in popularity, recently being included on the official NBA 2k27 video game playlist.

“Moments like that, they’re just validating that I’m doing the right thing, and I need to keep going,” Shelailai said. “Eventually my stuff will pop too, you know?”

“I just love being on stage, and it’s just amazing when the energy is reciprocated,” Shelailai said. “I don’t take that for granted. When I see the little signs in the crowd that say, like, I love you, or just people interacting back with me, it truly means the world”

After a short break, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie took the stage, and the crowd went wild.

“Tennessee, make some noise,” A Boogie said. “Y’all got a lot of energy tonight.”

Throughout A Boogie’s performance, students sang, danced, held up their flashlights, jumped in unison and participated in all of the interactive activities A Boogie orchestrated from the stage.

A Boogie Wit da Hoodie was not the original headliner of the concert. Before being arrested, BigXThaPlug was set to perform. However, students seemed very excited to have A Boogie come to Johnson City.

“I really like how catchy his songs are,” said Emma Denton, an ETSU student attending the concert. “Boogie I love you! I love you, Mr. Julius.”

The artist, born and raised in the Bronx, has now topped the Billboard charts and holds dozens of gold and platinum records. Throughout the concert, he kept encouraging students to never give up on their dreams.

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