By Tristin Taylor
Staff Writer
Last Thursday, KDHR threw a pre-party for the biggest event of the year at CSUDH, Spring Fling, which is tonight, April 25. Unfortunately, the day after the party, the campus learned that the guest of honor would not be in attendance.
LA Rapper Dom Kennedy was the headliner for the Spring Fling, which begins tonight at 6 p.m. in Dignity Health Sports Park.
But last Friday, Kennedy’s team informed Associated Students Inc., that Kennedy, a close friend of Grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was shot and killed in Los Angeles on March 31, was too broken up over his friend’s death to perform.
In a campus-wide email sent by ASI, the main organizer of the Spring Fling since its start in 2017, Kennedy’s team was quoted:
“We, unfortunately, have to cancel the Dom Kennedy show at Cal State Dominguez Hills. We apologize for this but unfortunately, he [Dom Kennedy] is not in the emotional state to perform since his dear friend Nipsey Hussle passed away. We hope the school understands and we look forward to working with them again the future.
The 18-and-older show will still go on and will begin April 25 at 6 p.m. DJ Persona, host of the KDHR radio show, “The Bridge” and C.A.M. (Controlling All Music) will take the stage, in addition to other guest DJs. Students will be able to access the same Eventbrite page (asicsudh.eventbrite.com) to request a free ticket, while all other guests (staff, alumni, outside guests, etc.) will pay a $5 entry fee. In addition, free food vouchers will be distributed to the first 250 students in attendance.
While Kennedy’s decision is understandable, it will surely disappoint those who were eagerly looking forward to hearing him perform, such as most of those in attendance at last Thursday’s pre-party.
“I love this event because it gets students involved and it introduces a lot of them to Spring Fling and what it’s all about, especially if they’ve never been to it,” said junior Kayla Sii, a 22-year-old child development major.
A packed house of students and faculty attended. The event was even more festive when the bartender crafted his own Samuel Adams beer at the bar and passed around free samples of varied beer flavors, from sweet maple to beer mixed with red Kool-Aid.
But little did anyone guess that their excitement about Spring Fling would be tempered the next day by Kennedy’s announcement.
“I think Spring Fling is a great event to have here at CSUDH. I’ll be graduating a month from now so to get Dom Kennedy to school is a HUGE deal,” said senior Tevin Blaylock, 28, a business marketing major.
The event begins tonight at 6 p.m. and the doors close at 8:30 p.m.
