From the “King of The South” to “Black Beatles,” the University of Memphis campus has seen quite a few hip-hop artists tear up the Alumni Mall. Rich Homie Quan, Metro Boomin and Travis Porter are set to perform during this week’s Spring Fling event. They will join the nine past performers who’ve spit fire on campus since 2014. Through a few open records requests, we made a break down of how much these guys got paid to perform at Memphis.
Click here for desktop version.
How much did other schools pay?
Since 2014, the U of M has spent nearly half a million dollars to book a dozen rappers to perform on campus for homecoming and Spring Fling concerts. Compared to other school, the University of Memphis has not paid the highest prices. Here is a break down of sum of the most popular performers.
Big Sean
The University of Florida paid $120,000 for Big Sean to perform on their campus in 2017, twice as much as the U of M did in 2014. Tickets for Florida students were also not free as they were at the U of M. UF students paid between $10 to $20 per ticket, according to The Alligator, the UF student newspaper. Big Sean was nominated for a Grammy in 2013, a year before he would perform at the U of M. Big Sean got his second nomination in 2016 for best rap song, which might explain why he doubled his fee.
Ludacris
The University of Georgia paid $68,000 for Ludacris to preform on their campus in 2010 and $65,000 for his performance in 2016, according to The Red & Black. Both times were less than what the U of M paid ($70,000) for the 2015 homecoming concert. But, Ludacris’ 2016 Georgia concert was not free to students, and the rapper allegedly performed for only 15 minutes. The University of North Alabama spent about $88,000 for Ludacris to perform on their campus in 2014, according to The Flor-Ala.
Rich Homie Quan
Rich Homie Quan performed during a Las Vegas New Years Eve event in 2015 and was paid $90,000, according to TMZ. Although TMZ did not say where they found the information, many of the items listed in his hospitality rider can be found in Quan’s contract with the U of M. Rich Homie Quan’s asking price is about $40,000 according to Main Stage Productions’s website. The U of M paid $41,000 to have him perform for the Spring Fling Saturday.
T.I.
The current asking price for the “King of the South” is $100,000, according to Main Stage Productions, a booking agency that caters to college campuses.
But the University of North Alabama spent only $90,000 to book rapper T.I. for their 2015 spring concert, according to student newspaper The Flor-Ala. The University of Memphis paid only $75,000 to have him perform during the 2016 homecoming concert.
Rae Sremmurd
The U of M paid $75,000 to have Rae Sremmurd perform for spring fling 2016. That's $25,000 below their current asking price (as listed on Main Stage Productions). One reason for the price jump may be the success “Black Beatles” which hit number one in the Billboard Hot 100. Unfortunately, U of M students did not see the song live as it was not released until September 2016.
