Pitt Program Council announces Yung Gravy as Fall Fest headliner

Yung+Gravy%2C+left%2C+and+Sheri+Nicole+at+the+MTV+Video+Music+Awards+at+the+Prudential+Center+in+New+Jersey+on+Sunday.%0A

Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Yung Gravy, left, and Sheri Nicole at the MTV Video Music Awards at the Prudential Center in New Jersey on Sunday.

By Jessica McKenzie, Culture Editor

It’s all gravy at Fall Fest this year.

Pitt Program Council announced on Instagram on Aug. 28 that Yung Gravy, a chart-topping rapper, will headline at this year’s Fall Fest. Pitt’s annual fall concert will take place on Oct. 16.

Fall Fest’s opening performances will begin at 1 p.m. on Schenley Drive. The event is free and open to all Pitt undergraduate students.

PPC said they will soon announce the concert’s opening performers, which will include local bands in the Pittsburgh area. They will also soon introduce Fall Fest’s food truck lineup and other activities available to festival attendees.

Emaya Anand, PPC’s special events director, said the organization chose Yung Gravy as Fall Fest’s headliner because the rapper seemed like a great fit for Pitt’s vibrant student body.

“We wanted to look into artists that had good name recognition, audience interaction, and just overall ‘vibes,'” Anand said. “We figured that Yung Gravy would be able to bring all that to the table, especially with his signature style and recent rise in popularity. We hope that he will help make this year’s Fall Fest an enjoyable time for everyone.”

Yung Gravy, who got his start rapping on SoundCloud, is best known for his hit singles “Alley Oop” and “Betty.” He released his first EP, Snow Cougar, in 2018 and released his debut album, Sensational, the following year. The album quickly climbed to top 5 in Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart. He has since earned more than 450 million streams on Spotify.

Because the people involved with PPC build the Fall Fest stage themselves each year, Anand said it will be exciting just to see Yung Gravy standing on it and interacting with the crowd.

“We’re looking forward to see his engaging stage performance, as well as seeing all of the hard work from the Pitt Program Council directors, staff, and volunteers pay off as we get to see his hype performance on the stage that we’re going to build,” Anand said.

In addition to student performances, rapper Waka Flocka Flame will join the festival’s lineup as direct support. 

Waka Flocka Flame, who is best known for his hits “O Let’s Do It,” “Hard In Da Paint” and “No Hands,” got his start in 2010 with the release of his debut studio album “Flockveli.” He released his second studio album, “Triple F Life: Friends, Fans, & Family,” in 2012.

Yung Gravy is coming to Pittsburgh as a part of his world tour, “Experience the Sensation, Part 2.”

This article was updated to reflect that Waka Flocka Flame will appear at Fall Fest.