N.E.R.D. and Kid Cudi will be rocking Cameron Indoor Stadium April 1 at 8 p.m.
Duke University Union’s Major Attractions Committee announced Wednesday that the Cameron Rocks concert will return to Duke after a three-year break with the two big-name hip-hop artists as its headliners.
“We got lucky with artists this year especially because we were working with a short list,” said Major Attractions Director Liz Turner, a senior. “N.E.R.D and Kid Cudi agreed to perform at reasonable prices.”
N.E.R.D. initially formed as a funk hip-hop collaboration between Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. The band’s first album “In Search Of...” earned gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. N.E.R.D. has toured with Kanye West, opened for Rihanna and worked with Jay-Z. The group’s fourth album “Instant Gratification” is set to be released later this year.
Hip-hop artist Kid Cudi, who was nominated for three Grammy awards last month, will be supporting N.E.R.D. His hit single “Day ‘N Nite” made it to the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B/Hip Hop Charts. Kid Cudi reached number four on the album charts with his debut album “Man on the Moon: The End of the Day.”
Tickets will be sold at the Duke University Box Office at $25 for Duke students, $30 for other college students and $35 for the general public audience. Sales for the general public will begin Wednesday, March 3.
Over the years, Cameron Indoor Stadium has seen artists such as Death Cab for Cutie and Franz Ferdinand. The most recent Cameron Rocks, which took place in 2007, featured performances by T.I. and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
Turner said DUU has tried to plan Cameron Rocks every year but has encountered obstacles in the process.
“Cameron Rocks is very expensive and it’s hard to set a date for it because we have to work with athletics to get the venue,” Turner added. “It’s also hard to get high-caliber artists—they’re often out of our price range or touring somewhere else.”
Taking potential roadblocks into consideration, DUU began working on Cameron Rocks earlier than usual, said DUU President Zach Perret, a senior.
“We started looking at artists for the Cameron Rocks mid-way last semester,” Perret said.
For the venue, the DUU Major Attractions Committee started talking with the athletics department last summer, Turner said.
She added that the committee has worked the whole year to make the budget and venue possible because Cameron Rocks was something DUU wanted to revive.
“Our biggest goal is to not go into debt while making [the concert] as cheap as possible for students,” Turner said. “We are doing this for the student body, so it’s highly unlikely that we will make profit.”
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