Pop duo Karmin and R&B singer JoJo will kick off this year’s Student Union Board concert lineup in Bender Arena on Aug. 23.
An AU ID will be required for entry to the concert. Doors will open at 8 p.m.
The show will be intimate despite the large venue, as with Chance the Rapper’s set in April 2014, Tam Sackman, SUB director, said.
“I wanted to explore the pop genre, or at least a genre other than hip-hop, so that more people feel as if their voices are being heard,” Sackman said. “Karmin’s music is upbeat, danceable and fun, and I want new and returning students to consider this a welcome to AU/welcome back party.”
Sackman thinks JoJo’s appearance might foreshadow a full-fledged comeback for the mid-2000s hitmaker.
“Now that she’s freed from the record label that was holding her captive, I expect her to start releasing more music and feel like I got her right before her comeback,” Sackman said.
This show follows last year’s well-received SUB lineup, which included Chance, Grouplove and Welcome Week performer Lupe Fiasco.
About Karmin
Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan make up the duo Karmin, which got its start posting pop-tinged viral covers of rap songs like Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now” and Lil Wayne’s “6 Foot 7 Foot” on YouTube.
The duo signed with L.A. Reid’s Epic Records in 2011 and released its first Top 40 hit “Crash Your Party” in October of that year. The duo’s biggest hit to date is “Brokenhearted,” produced by Cirkut (Katy Perry, “Part of Me,” Miley Cyrus, “Wrecking Ball”) and Emily Wright. The song hit the top of Billboard’s U.S. dance chart and peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100.
After releasing three EPs between 2010 and 2012, Karmin released its first full-length album Pulses in March of this year. The album’s debut single “Acapella” cracked the Top 40 on the Billboard pop chart.
About JoJo
In 2004, at the age of 13, JoJo became the youngest artist to have a number one hit on the Billboard charts with her pop smash “Leave (Get Out).”
Seven years later, she drew attention for her sultry remix of Drake’s “Marvin’s Room,” in which she reworked the song’s lyrics to fit a female perspective.
Though she has yet to release a full studio album since 2006’s “The High Road,” she released “#LoveJo,” an EP of new material, in February of this year.
Full Disclosure: SUB director Tam Sackman and publicity coordinator Sydney Gore are members of The Eagle’s editorial staff.
