Got Fresh! Last-minute MusicFest substitution

On Thurs., Apr. 13, Yunji de Nies, PC '01, the general manager of WYBC, received a phone call that nearly sent her into a panic. After working all semester to sign an artist for WYBC MusicFest, to be held on Fri., Apr. 14 at 7 p.m., de Nies learned at 3 p.m. that Rah Digga, the show's headliner, had cancelled her performance. "I was sweating bullets" after hearing the news, de Nies said.

DAVID CORIO/ALLMUSIC.COM Doug E. Fresh will replace Rah Digga after a last-minute WYBC MusicFest cancellation.

Only a few hours later, de Nies succeeded in replacing Rah Digga with well known hip-hop artist Doug E. Fresh. De Nies had actually tried to book Fresh earlier in the semester before learning he was more costly than WYBC could afford. When she contacted him a second time, however, his agent lowered the price "because I was so upset," de Nies said.

Sometimes called the "human beatbox" for his ability to mimic a rhy-thm machine with his voice, Fresh is best known for the singles "The Show (Oh, My God)," and "La Di Da Di," a collaboration with Slick Rick. After the release of his 1988 album with the Get Fresh Crew, The World's Greatest Entertainer, Fresh disappeared from the hip-hop scene for a while, but recently released a new record on a small independent label. At MusicFest, he will be performing alongside fellow rapper Ali Vegas, a 17-year-old MC from Queens who just came out with a single called "The Specialist" and will soon release an eponymous album. Several Yale acts, including rock band Six Pack Annie and hip-hop groups NIYM and Brandon Gay [CC '02] and Miguel, will also appear at the concert.

De Nies attributes the preponderance of hip-hop at MusicFest to a burgeoning student interest in that genre of music. "If you look at the WYBC schedule this month," she said, "you'll notice there's a lot more hip-hop on the air."

Like last year, Mu-sicFest will be held in Pierson's courtyard. "We couldn't have it on Old Campus or Cross Campus because of Spring Fling and Com-muniversity Day," de Nies said. "The only other venue large enough is Woolsey Hall, and we didn't want to have it indoors." Although Pierson is ideal because it can accommodate a large crowd, some students have expressed concern that holding the concert in a residential college restricts local residents from attending the event. De Nies noted, however, that "Spring Fling is [also] not open to the public. There are liability issues. It's not the WYBC's policy—the University won't let us."

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