It’s 7 p.m. Wednesday, it’s 45 degrees.
It was not “95” degrees on a Friday like GloRilla sings on “TGIF,” but the crunk-style rapper, joined by hip-hop star Gunna, heated up concertgoers last night at The Liacouras Center.
The artists came to campus after Temple students won Tinder’s 2024 Swipe Off Challenge through Tinder U, the dating app’s college-geared feature released in 2018.
Tinder U tracked the Tinder activity of users on participating college campuses from Sept. 4 to Oct. 2, and Temple beat out all other universities. Students 18 and older, regardless of whether they used Tinder or not, could sign up with their Temple email to receive one of 5,000 free tickets to Wednesday’s concert.
“Come on, who would not like a free concert?” said Tanya Castillo, a freshman nursing major. “GloRilla and Gunna? Who could decline it? I heard about it through my friend who’s a sophomore and she said ‘sign up for it.’”
After almost an hour-and-a-half delay, GloRilla took the stage – the Tennessee rapper’s famous track “TGIF” catapulted her further into the spotlight this year after it went viral on TikTok. She performed the hit, alongside her 2022 “F.N.F,” and her collaboration with artist Cardi B “Tomorrow 1.”
After asking the crowd if they liked the new album, she played “WHATCHU KNOW ABOUT ME,” her feature with rapper Sexyy Red who also visited The Liacouras Center in September.
GloRilla’s six dancers stole the show in bright white tee-shirts and jean shorts, accompanying her songs with tangible energy that resonated through the crowd. In some segments, Glo let the dancers take a moment in the spotlight to showcase their talent.
What “lit” up the arena was glowing phone flashlights as GloRilla performed her hit “Yeah Glo!” Fans echoed “yeah Glo” back to the Memphis native after every line with their flashlights in hand. The single, released this year as part of her mixtape “Ehhthang Ehhthang,” peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February.
Since GloRilla skyrocketed to fame this year, she’s been booked and busy with two album releases, multiple features and stadium shows accompanying rapper Megan Thee Stallion on her “Hot Girl Summer” American tour. Most recently, she featured on artist Tyler the Creator’s long-awaited album, CHROMAKOPIA, released on Oct. 28, with the captivating “Sticky,” alongside Sexyy Red and Lil Wayne.
Though her thigh tattoo reads “told you I’d be here forever,” she only stuck around for a 30-minute set. The crowd cheered with rampant excitement for the night’s next act; Atlanta-based rapper Gunna.
Gunna rose to fame in 2018 with his mixtape “Drip Season 3.” The song “Drip Too Hard” from his collaboration album, “Drip Harder” with fellow rapper Lil Baby has more than 1.5 billion streams on Spotify.
“I went to a couple of Gunna’s other shows and I think for the space that you have, it was pretty done up,” said Samuel Eaddy, a junior electrical engineering major. “I wanted to see him perform some from his new album, but other than that he actually played everything I wanted.”
The crowd hung onto every word of some of his most famous tunes, including “pushin P” from 2022’s “DS4EVER” and his 2022 single “Banking On Me.” During the latter song, he greeted the front of the crowd, dapping up fan after fan in the front row.
Not every student who attended the concert participated in the Swipe Off Challenge — some were just fans of the two artists. Past Swipe Off artists include Saweetie at Arizona State University in 2023 and Juice WRLD and Charli XCX at Fordham University in 2019.
As his outro, Gunna told the crowd – ‘anything you wanna do you can get it, as long as you manifest it’ and finished out with a cover of “THIS YEAR (BLESSINGS)” by Nigerian Afrobeats singer Victor Thompson.
“I loved it, I just went with the flow,” said Karyleen Tavarez, a freshman architecture major. “I didn’t know all the songs, but you know, it was a vibe.”
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