Over 1,000 students turned up for the FYG U Music + Tech festival at the Mullins Center for free concerts, games and merchandise on Thursday.
Lines to enter the festival grounds formed well before the 5 p.m. opening. Upon entering, students could explore a variety of booths presented by Prime Student and sponsored by Amazon and TikTok, which partnered to host the nationwide festival series at multiple state universities.
“I’m just excited to be here with my friends, and Amazon’s got some cool stuff set up,” said Cam Hassing, a sophomore resource economics major. “Obviously Baby Berk is here, so that’s a big perk. But yeah, this is a great event, and I hope UMass does more events like this.”
The E-sports Tournament booth offered people a chance to compete against one another, while those who needed a cellphone charger or wanted to explore new technology could visit the AWS Educate Tech Hub. Other booths, including the TikTok booth and the Prime Student Lounge, gave away clear drawstring bags, water bottles and popcorn.
Nolan Stimpson, a sophomore management major, was looking forward to using a slide which continued into a ball pit.
“I actually dislike Amazon,” Stimpson said. “So, my plan is to get as many free things out of this without giving anything at all.”
In order to access the Mullins Center, where the main artists performed, students were handed a card with four sections labeled with different booth names. They had to visit each booth and get a stamp before entering the building, encouraging students to check out the Amazon attractions.
Of all the events at FYG U, the concert series drew the most attention. From student artists such as Taha and UMass Rang, to big names including Lil Tecca and Pusha T, students could experience a variety of acts during the five-hour long festival. Student acts performed outside the Mullins Center, competing for a $600 Amazon gift card and a chance to play one song before the crowd in the Mullins Center. Taha, a rapper and UMass student, won and took the stage before Lil Tecca. Judges from FYG U made the selection.
Although many of the attendees said that they were most excited for Lil Tecca, some students were attracted by the smaller names performing.
“I’m honestly here because of Savage Gasp,” said Kathleen Martin, a freshman on the exploratory track for natural science. “He’s not on the lineup but he’s performing, and I had to come out.”
New York rapper Supa Dupa Humble warmed up the large audience in the Mullins Center at 7:30 p.m., followed by SoundCloud artist Souly Had. Next was Luh Kel, who has over 284,000 fans on TikTok, before rapper Teyonahhh, another TikTok artist took the stage. Each artist had roughly half an hour to perform, amounting to four or five songs each.
Chants for Lil Tecca erupted from the crowd as the fans pushed closer to the stage. At just 17 years old, Lil Tecca launched his debut album “We Love You Tecca” in August, opening at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. He performed many of his hits to a rambunctious crowd, interacting with the students and taking pictures with phones from the audience.
After Lil Tecca’s performance, the majority of the Mullins Center cleared out before Pusha T, the headlining act. Many students in the stands jumped the barrier into the pit and were eventually kicked out for not having the proper wristband for the area.
To close out the night, Pusha T performed a variety of songs off of his latest project “Daytona” and other hits that he has featured in, such as Kanye West’s “So Appalled” and “Runaway.”
Matt Berg can be reached at [email protected].
