STARKVILLE — Grammy-winning rapper Ludacris will headline Mississippi State’s Bulldog Bash on Oct. 4 this year, the university announced in a press release on Wednesday.
He is set to take the stage at 9:15 p.m. at the intersection of Jackson and Main streets, closing out what is touted as the state’s largest free outdoor concert.
Belle Grace Wilkinson, MSU senior and Bulldog Bash public relations coordinator, said she hopes turnout this year will beat the event’s current attendance record of about 35,000 concertgoers.
“We are so stoked,” Wilkinson said about booking the artist. “We wanted something big this year, and we landed on Ludacris and we are so so excited.”
Ludacris is a hip hop artist known for his Southern rap style and hit songs like “Stand Up,” “My Chick Bad” and “Money Maker.” Rising to fame in the early 2000s, he has released several multi-platinum albums, like “Word of Mouf” and “Chicken-n-Beer.”
He has won three Grammy awards, including the best album award for “Release Therapy” in 2007. Beyond music, Ludacris made a name for himself in Hollywood, starring in the “Fast & Furious” franchise.
Wilkinson said the Bulldog Bash team has already received positive feedback from students since the announcement was made on Wednesday.
“Students are very excited about it,” she said. “Some people are saying this is the best artist they’ve heard of in a long time, which makes me really happy because we’re just here to bring music to the Starkville area.”
Bulldog Bash is an annual event organized by the MSU Student Association. Wilkinson said the planning committee started the process for selecting Ludacris this year by sending out surveys to students, alumni and Starkville residents to learn who they’d be most interested in seeing.
“We just try to get a feel for the most requested genre, the most requested artist and things like that,” she said. “Then we kind of just go from there when we decide the headliner.”
Previous headliners include the likes of Jason Derulo, Jazon Mraz and T-Pain.
Wilkinson said this year’s event kicks off at 3:30 p.m. with the Maroon Market. The market will feature a kid zone, performances from local musicians and vendors selling food and art, she said.
“It’s basically just a giant arts festival,” she said. “… This year we have over 80 vendors, which I’m pretty sure is the largest Maroon Market we’ve ever had.”
The opening act for the concert will be determined by this year’s Battle of the Bands, sponsored by MSU’s Music Makers Productions, at 6 p.m. Sept. 7 in Lee Hall’s Bettersworth Auditorium.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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