BBNO$ rocks MSU
The Minnesota State Student Events Team hosted their annual Spring concert, this time featuring Canadian rapper bbno$ (pronounced “baby no money”).
The stage was set up in the middle of the Bresnan Arena and started at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Before bbno$ took the stage, another rapper Dwynell Roland was the opening act. The audience seemed to vibe with him, despite few people knowing him prior.
Once bbno$ came on, he made quite an impression by starting with Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” effectively “Rickrolling” the audience.
Fans know him for his comedic, unserious music style and lyrics. He made that clear to everyone through not only the lyrics, but also by his charismatic demeanor and reading from a cookbook. Yes, you read that right.
During every concert, bbno$ reads from, signs and gives away an ordinary old cookbook to whoever goes the hardest.
The Canadian rapper is also well known for his many collaborations with Minnesota rapper Yung Gravy, so of course he performed a few of those songs. Since Gravy himself wasn’t there to do his verses in those songs, bbno$ pulled a couple students up to the stage to do them.
One of these students was Senior Isaac Hagen. He happened to be wearing a Yung Gravy shirt and had almost the same hair as him, an obvious first pick for bbno$.
“I was a little nervous at first. I definitely forgot the lyrics to the song. It was definitely unexpected and something I’ve always wanted to do,” Hagen said. “I’ve worn the jersey to the concert I’ve gone to before at the State Fair. And then I’ve dressed up as him for Halloween a few times as well.”
Hagen has been listening to their music since high school. He explained why he’s such a big fan.
“A lot of their songs are more throwback-y but modern, so it’s got the sounds of the 70s and 80s for some of the catches at the beginning of the song. And their lyrics relate to everyday life and it’s just really inspiring and energetic,” Hagen said.
After Hagen, the other student that went on stage to sing with bbno$ and cover Gravy’s verses was Junior Amina Huda.
“I wasn’t expecting a whole crowd of people to cheer my name at someone else’s concert,” Huda said.
Huda has also been a longtime fan of bbno$ and Gravy’s music. She talked about why she likes their music so much.
“It’s different, it’s funky, like the beats aren’t your normal ‘grab off-the-shelf’ kind of beats. It’s interesting to listen to and that’s what I look for in music,” Huda said.
bbno$ was so impressed with Huda’s performance, he gifted her the coveted cookbook.
In effort to make this concert even more memorable for students, bbno$ would casually insert “MSU” into the lyrics, even if it didn’t make sense. It clearly worked because the crowd laughed and cheered every time.
Write to Jack Harding at jack.harding@mnsu.edu
Header Photo: Canadian rapper, singer and songwriter bbno$ brought Hip-hop and R&B to Minnesota State Thursday in Bresnan Arena. (Dylan Long/The Reporter)