Counting down to Spring Fling 2016

Who do you want to headline and open Spring Fling 2K16?
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Host of The Weekly Tune Up, a DMV concert music show, Helen Jiang breaks down Program Board’s Spotify playlist of hints. First cuts were made at 2pm on March 22, and second cuts around 10am on March 23, with the final setlist out on March 24. Who do you think will be the final artists? While reading, give Program Board’s playlist a spin.

Improbable
Miike Snow/Galantis: Sharing band member, Christian Karlsson, Galantis will have to defy time and miraculously perform in D.C. and the Philippines on the same day. However, Galantis’ highly-anticipated single, “No Money” debuts on April 1.
Vince Staples + OFWGKTA (Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler the Creator, and Odd Future) & A$AP Rocky: A$AP and Tyler toured with Vince Staples opening last fall, and Earl and Vince have collaborated, too. However this entire group’s controversial lyrics about women and LGBT, plus expletive overload, may prove too callous for Fling.
Chance The Rapper: He hasn’t toured much since his daughter was born in September but things are looking up. Skrillex’s remix of Hundred Waters’ “Show Me Love” premiered today and features Chance the Rapper on the midway bridge, and he will be playing with the Social Experiment in North Carolina on March 29 and 30. He was technically cut on March 22 but I believe he will perform with Donnie Trumpet, or for a raucous set with Action Bronson as his feature on “Baby Blue” will be his saving grace to Fling ’16.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5bAVKzrBzI&w=560&h=315]

Feasible Combos
Anderson .Paak & BJ the Chicago Kid + SchoolboyQ: Buzzy heatseekers that fits Fling’s history of rappers (Theophilus London, “Jay Sean,” Macklemore, Childish Gambino, and Chiddy Bang). I’ll entertain the idea of Kendrick Lamar as a surprise guest who just has to come back to DC to perform President Obama’s favorite song of 2015, “How Much A Dollar Cost” off of To Pimp a Butterfly. I would be so impressed if I could say #OnlyAtGW to seeing Diplo, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and Kendrick Lamar at university shows. There’s also a lot of label overlap here between Lamar’s Top Dawg Entertainment and Dr. Dre’s Aftermath, which would make for an engaging concert.
Vic Mensa & Donnie Trumpet + Action Bronson: Following a North America-Europe tour promoting Mr. Wonderful, Action Bronson announced his own dab on Viceland this week! Although cannabis is legal in DC, I don’t think GWU wants to be associated with it. Bronson also surprised concertgoers in New Zealand by skipping “Blue Chips” #3-6 and performing “Blue Chip 7” March 21. What more does he have in store? After the success of Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment’s collab-heavy, Surf, this combo pulls in Vic Mensa, who is repeatedly listed with Donnie Trumpet on the playlist. I am also holding out for Chance the Rapper to join this big family on stage.
HAIM + Robyn: Electronic and cheery enough to sit well with the crowd, but both have been musically quiet in recent months, yet they have made great strides to increase awareness on women-in-music, which complements First Lady Michelle Obama’s March 8 “Let Girls Learn” launch. HAIM sisters performed for Girls Rock Camp Foundation’s Girls to the Front benefit in Hollywood on March 9. Robyn partnered with Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology last year to throw Tekla Festival, and she’s doing it again on April 9 to empower 11-18 year old STEM female students.
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Helen’s guess: Chet Faker & GoldLink! Ok, I admit, this is my dream combo because I adore GoldLink’s And After That We Didn’t Talk, and Chet Faker’s Built on Glass and Lockjaw EP with Flume. Seriously though, I do think Chet Faker’s historical success with incorporating vocals over his ingenious production will lend itself well to GoldLink’s bouncing verses. The pairing fits GWU’s traditional electronic/pop + rap balance with past acts, 3LAU, Diplo, Girl Talk, and Holychild. Goldlink not only reps D.C. but will finish a whirlwind Australia-US tour on March 23. Chet Faker hasn’t performed in the area recently but may be working his way north from his set at Miami Ultra on March 18, to promote his new EP with Marcus Marr, Work. Oh, hold up, what’s this?
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The icing on the cake! “On You” is a year-old Chet Faker and GoldLink collab that’s racked up 1.85 million plays already. Both artists’ lyrical and production prowess show on this track and I hope GW will get to enjoy this, live! Combined, their 12 songs on Program Board’s playlist is a promising 36%.

Eliminated
Childish Gambino: The most obvious cut, he headlined Spring Fling in 2012.
Chance the Rapper: … I refuse to acknowledge this. See above.
Wiz Khalifa: Wiz often performs at Jiffy Lube Live and has a packed summer of festivals as he gets back into the public eye. Perhaps performance contracts’ regional restrictions prevented him from coming this spring, but he is hanging on by a single track, Action Bronson’s “The Rockers.”
Miike Snow: If 1/3 of your band’s in Asia, you can’t really perform, can you?
Odd Future & A$AP Rocky: Doesn’t fit Fling’s tone at all.
Anderson .Paak, BJ the Chicago Kid, and Schoolboy Q: Aaaannd my Kendrick Lamar dreams are dashed. Without logical openers and cross-label promotion to do, Lamar would seem out of place headlining with another rapper or electronic DJ opening. It also seems illogical that GW would book a multi-Grammy winner and affiliated emerging artists amid budget cuts to the arts.
Vic Mensa & Donnie Trumpet: Without Chance the Rapper, it’s a similar predicament to openers without a fitting headliner.
HAIM & Robyn: I was REALLY hoping Program Board would have some female representation in a year that’s been particularly about promoting women in the arts and education…. Although they were the only women listed to begin with, I am hoping female artists will not be demoted to being “performance pieces” like with Jay Sean’s dancers last year, and empowered with a prominent front(wo)man like Holychild and MØ in the fall.

* Guesses represent the author’s personal inquiries and not WRGW District Radio’s official views.
-Helen Jiang

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