On Sunday, Star Course UIUC and the Illini Union Board collaborated to bring rapper Waka Flocka Flame to Spring Jam 2025.
Spring Jam is an annual concert hosted on the Main Quad toward the end of the spring semester, which is free for University students. The event began in 2015 and has previously featured artists such as Post Malone, T-Pain and Sean Kingston.
“It’s a great time,” said Om Dhingra, junior in Engineering. “When it happens, everyone comes together; it’s a campus event.”
Waka Flocka Flame is an Atlanta-based rapper who began releasing music in 2009, known for his chaotic style of rap music and his larger-than-life personality while performing.
The event began at 2 p.m. with Latin pop artist Monique Hasbun opening the show. Her mix of high-energy original songs and covers of other pop songs had the crowd cheering and clapping as it grew larger.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
At 3 p.m., a mix of students from Star Course UIUC and the Illini Union Board came onstage to prepare the crowd for Waka Flocka Flame’s arrival by throwing t-shirts into the audience and asking them if they were ready to see the rapper.
At around 3:10 p.m., Waka Flocka Flame burst onto the stage, dancing and taking selfies with students while singing “Hard in Da Paint.”
His energy was immediately picked up by the crowd of students who screamed along and threw their hands in the air.
The rapper wasted no time, launching straight into the next song while putting on a large orange chain with a medal that featured the University’s “I” logo.
“I like the style of music he makes,” said Josh McWhorter, junior in Media. “He makes music that’s good for partying and concerts, very social music.”
After playing a cover of “Turn Down for What,” Waka Flocka Flame left the stage to join in with the crowd during “Round of Applause.”
The response was overwhelming, with students swarming the rapper as he made his way through the entire crowd. Despite this, he looked incredibly comfortable as he danced to the music and took more pictures before getting back onstage.
“I thought it was hilarious that he went out in the crowd for a good 15 minutes, and no one knew where he was,” said Noah Adrian, sophomore in Engineering.
Throughout the performance, Waka Flocka Flame played both his own hit songs as well as remixes and covers of songs from other popular rap artists like Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott and Playboi Carti.
After playing “Grove St. Party,” he addressed the crowd.
“Where the wild boys at in here?” he asked the crowd before singling out a group of students in the middle of the crowd. “I think the wild boys are here, right there.”
He then sang “Wild Boy” with the group he singled out, making their way to the front of the crowd to dance with the rapper.
Despite Waka Flocka Flame’s manic energy throughout the entire performance, he paused near the end to express his appreciation for being able to perform for the students.
“Y’all are beautiful out here, make some noise for yourself,” Waka Flocka Flame said. “There’s a lot of culture in the crowd right now.”
He then finally played “No Hands,” one of his most popular songs, which gave the audience one last burst of energy as they crowded together toward the stage, screaming and throwing their hands up.
To close out the performance, Waka Flocka Flame went along the front row of the crowd, took students’ phones and recorded videos of them dancing together.
“I thought it was crazy,” Adrian said. “It was great to be in the front row.”
