Rapper Kid Cudi To Perform At Yardfest

Hip-hop artist Kid Cudi will be performing at the College’s fifth annual Yardfest on April 18, the College Events Board and the Harvard Concert Commission announced yesterday.

Kid Cudi, the stage name for three-time Grammy nominee Scott R.S. Mescudi, is best known for his song “Day ‘n’ Nite,” which appeared first as a digital download and then on his 2009 debut album “Man on the Moon: The End of Day.”

“The CEB and the HCC both felt that Kid Cudi was an extremely mainstream artist that would meet as many of the musical tastes of the Harvard student population as possible in a singular artist,” said HCC director Synne D. Chapman ’11, who is also a Crimson magazine editor.

CEB vice-chair Stephen G. Anastos Jr. ’11 declined to comment on whether there will be a second performer at Yardfest; for the past two years, the event featured two acts.

Cudi’s upcoming Harvard performance was confirmed at 2:50 pm yesterday by his agent’s assistant at William Morris Agency. The evening concert will take place in Tercentenary Theatre.

Last fall, the CEB conducted a poll asking students to vote on potential Yardfest artists and musical genres.

Kid Cudi was the second most popular artist and hip-hop was “by far the most requested genre,” according to Anastos.

“In years past, we received criticism for getting washed-up artists, but Cudi’s up-and-coming,” he added.

Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles and electronic group Ratatat performed at Yardfest last year to 7,100 audience members, a record number.

Yesterday’s announcement follows a month of contract negotiations after Cudi, through booking agency Pretty Polly Productions, informally agreed on Feb. 17 to play at Harvard.

Kid Cudi will be performing at Babson College the night before Yardfest. He will also be performing at Miami University, Duke University, and Bucknell College throughout March and April.

—Staff writer Danielle J. Kolin can be reached at dkolin@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Naveen N. Srivatsa can be reached at srivatsa@fas.harvard.edu.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: March 23, 2010

Due to an editing error, an earlier version of the Mar. 23 news article "Rapper Kid Cudi To Perform At Yardfest" incorrectly stated that last year's Yardfest was the first time the event featured two acts. In fact, Gavin DeGraw and Wu-Tang Clan performed at Yardfest in 2008, and Ratatat and Sarah Bareilles performed in 2009.