Rapper Flo Milli energized the Smith Center at the GW Program Board’s annual Spring Fling event Saturday, performing her biggest hits to a small yet roaring crowd.
Flo Milli — the stage name for Tamia Monique Carter — performed her biggest hits for a moderately sized but passionate crowd of around 100 fans on the floor and attendees sprinkled throughout the stands, anxious to see the rapper. At around 7:30 p.m., attendees formed short lines at the entrances of the Smith Center with enthusiastic fans taking pictures of their outfits and waiting to get to their seats.
Ticket prices started at $10 for nosebleed seats, while spots closer to the stage were priced higher at around $20 to $30. This year’s prices saw a drop from last year’s Spring Fling concert with The Driver Era, where tickets ranged from $20 to $60.
Earlier on Saturday, the Program Board hosted a daytime festival in University Yard with local artist performances, like Blake Madison and Pack Light, free food from Wawa and Red Bull, inflatable slides and free Spring Fling merchandise. By the time the band The Montaines closed out the day’s programming around 5:45 p.m., only a small crowd remained in U-Yard. Many students and staff walked past grabbing what remained of the free food and swag but didn’t stay for the final performances.
Before Flo Milli’s set began, Shelailai came out at 8:05 p.m. to perform and hype up the crowd with songs like “By You,” one of her first singles. Although the crowd didn’t know a majority of the lyrics from her discography, Shelailai interacted with the audience by asking the crowd to put their middle fingers in the air while she sang.
After Shelailai and the Program Board came on, a DJ came on stage at around 9 p.m. to play popular songs from artists like Rihanna and Charli xcx to build up crowd excitement for the main performance. The crowd waited anxiously as the set was delayed by about 15 minutes before Flo Milli came on stage at 9:30 p.m.
Flo Milli started out her performance fashionably late, dressed in a sparkly, pink set with a pink fur jacket and silver, glittery sneakers. Two dancers joined Flo Milli on stage, coming in and out throughout the performance for joint choreography.
Fans danced and sang along to Flo Milli’s upbeat hits, like “Beef FloMix” and “Conceited,” and took pictures with the rapper as she frequently hopped down from the stage to the barricades to greet the crowd. Attendees sang along until she quickly ran off the stage at around 9:55 p.m., about five songs into her set, without warning.
The energy gradually died down as fans waited for Flo Milli to come back, and a handful of audience members left before she reappeared around three minutes later, saying she had stepped offstage for a “wardrobe malfunction.”
Flo Milli kept the show running and managed to re-energize the audience after the brief lull when she returned, even throwing her jacket to the audience to one lucky crowd member to catch. She thanked the audience for their energy right before ending her set with “Never Lose Me,” one of her biggest hits from her most recent album “Fine Ho, Stay.” The crowd erupted into their highest energy of the night as the opening bars rang out through the Smith Center.
After announcing Flo Milli as the headline artist March 18, Program Board drove their advertisement game home with Instagram posts, tabling in Kogan and banners around campus leading up to the day of the concert. Program Board Chair Alexa Barker said she was grateful for the support of the Division for Student Affairs for increasing the scale of the event, adding the daytime festival for the first time. She added that it was fulfilling to put the concert together, watching the crowd fall in love with Shelailai and respond to Flo Milli’s energy.
“It was amazing to see local talent recognized as part of the same event as a world-renowned artist,” Barker said in a message.
Program Board addressed the audience twice — once before Shelailai’s performance and once before Flo Milli made her appearance on stage — telling the crowd that this year’s Spring Fling is different from the past concerts because all ticket proceeds would be donated to World Central Kitchen, a humanitarian organization created by renowned chef and GW Global Food Institute founder José Andrés.
“Throughout this entire week of Buff and Bloom, GW students came together and raised over $23,000 for WCK,” a member of the Program Board said. “Pat yourself on the back because all of you contributed to that tonight.”
As Flo Milli concluded her performance, students exited the Smith Center before the rapper returned to the crowd one last time to take pictures and say goodbye to the amped-up audience.
“Y’all have been a f*cking vibe,” Flo Milli said. “I appreciate all the love, I love you guys. I wish everyone in this mother f*cking room the best.”
