Wack Wack City: Tyga a no show at spring hip-hop concert

Pitt students excited to attend a Pitt Program Council-sponsored event featuring hip-hop artist Tyga were disappointed to find the headliner had canceled just before the event began.

Pitt Program Council’s adviser, Tom Misuraca, was informed of the cancellation while speaking with Tyga’s manager, Randall Uritsky, over the phone at about 7 p.m. on Saturday night, when doors were set to open. 

“He had flight problems and was unable to get to Pittsburgh,” Taylor Steffey, special events director of PPC, said.

According to Steffey, a senior applied developmental psychology major, PPC sold roughly 1,800 tickets. After news of Tyga’s cancellation broke, about 500 to 600 students showed up for the event. 

With Tyga cancelling, Pitt student and winner of PPC’s Hip-Hop Battle event, Jaye Hill, opened, followed by Chevy Woods, a local Pittsburgh rapper often affiliated with Wiz Khalifa and Taylor Gang Records, whom PPC was able to book last minute. Ty Dolla $ign, who was originally booked as the opener, was designated to close the show. 

Steffey said that PPC still has to work out details on how they will be refunding students, but she was able to confirm that PPC plans on refunding everyone as long as they still have their ticket. She also said it is likely that the refunds will be made available at the William Pitt Union’s box office.

“Currently, we plan on making refunds available from April 8 to April 18,” she said.

Steffey said that PPC’s members were disappointed after finding out that Tyga was not coming. 

“This event is something that we spend months planning and an entire weekend working on the actual event,” she said. “We spent Thursday night building the stage and all Saturday making sure everything was set. It is a huge letdown to see something you work so hard on not come to fruition.”

At this time, PPC has no plans to reschedule an event with Tyga.

“Due to time and budget constraints, it is impossible to reschedule him this semester,” Steffey said. “Additionally, the [Fitzgerald] Field House is booked for the rest of the semester.”

In order to avoid cancellations in the future, Steffey said there is only so much that can be done.

“We had no control over Tyga’s flight. We have stipulations in the contracts regarding cancellations, and we take many steps to ensure that this won’t happen, but many things are simply out of our hands,” she said.