Tyga Officially Announced as Yardfest Headliner

Tyga will headline this year’s Yardfest, according to an official announcement made by the College Events Board Wednesday evening nearly 20 hours after two students preemptively revealed the artist.

The California-based rapper, whose stage name is an acronym for Thank You God Always, is known for his hits “Rack City,” “Faded,” and “Far Away.”

Students had been speculating about the selection for months. Two Kirkland sophomores—Kendall L. Sherman ’15 and Balaji Pandian ’15, an inactive Crimson IT editor—effectively ended the suspense early Wednesday morning when they wrote a computer program that uncovered a promotional image of Tyga on www.yardfest.org, a website set up by the College Events Board to reveal the headliner at 8 p.m. Wednesday night.

Student organizers from the College Events Board and the Harvard College Concert Commission have been planning the event—a College-wide concert in Tercentenary Theatre every spring—since last term.

In the fall, an email survey to students solicited preferences for Yardfest performers, according to Jeremy M. Tchack ’15, a member of the Harvard Concert Commission.

“The results showed pretty conclusively that the students were looking for an artist who had released Top 40 hits, which helped to give us direction,” he wrote in an email to The Crimson.

Although Tchack acknowledged that Tyga may not have been a first choice for some students, he said he still thinks students will enjoy the performance.

“My prediction: the Yard will go wild when ‘Rack City’ comes on,” Tchack wrote.

The song—known for its explicit language—is Tyga’s biggest hit.

“I’m excited,” said Linda Zhang ’15. “I don’t really support the lyrics, but I think it’s a step up from last year.”

Nevertheless, not everyone at Harvard is familiar with the artist.

“I have no idea who [Tyga] is,” Carolyn S. M. Stein ’13 said.

Last year, Yardfest performers included hip-hop duo The Cataracs, now broken-up group Das Racist, mash-up artist 3LAU, and student band The Nostalgics.

Following the concert, many students said they were dissatisfied with these choices.

According to student planners, artist availability—and to a greater extent, budget—restrict the field of potential performers.

“We know we can’t find an artist that everyone would like,” said Jennifer A. Klein ’14, a member of the Harvard Concert Commission. “We try to do the best we can with the resources given by the College.”

Two student groups—The Cantab Cowboys and Puttanesca—will also perform at Yardfest.

—Staff writer Laya Anasu can be reached at layaanasu@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @layaanasu.

—Staff writer Elizabeth S. Auritt can be reached at eauritt@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @eauritt.