2 Chainz Jubilee floor tickets already sold out

Floor seats have already sold out for the 2017 Jubilee concert, which will feature 2 Chainz. 

Jubilee will be April 1 in the Carmichael Arena. 

Booking the hip-hop artist has been in the works since August 2016, when the Carolina Union Activities Board began planning the concert.

“First we asked the agents for a list of artists that were within our budget range, and he was on the high end but it was still doable,” CUAB Concerts Committee Co-Chair Jordan Bermudez said.

Bermudez said booking 2 Chainz cost $125,000, a fee covered by a combination of student fees and revenue from last year’s Jubilee concert, which featured country artist and former UNC football player Chase Rice.

That concert and its reception led to an October genre survey administered by CUAB to gather student opinions on the concert.

“It kind of fueled the genre survey that we did at the beginning of the year to make sure that we catered to what the students wanted, and we based off of that. So that fueled that for sure,” CUAB Concerts Committee Co-Chairperson Ashley Westbrook said. 

Students wanted a hip-hop act, which impacted the potential artists.

“I think for us, some other big contenders were like, Ty Dolla $ign, YG, people kind of that caliber,” Bermudez said. 

The concert will be held in Carmichael arena, with 5,000 tickets being sold through CUAB. Upper and lower deck tickets are still available for student prices ranging from $15-25. General admissions tickets will go on sale next Friday for $45.

There will not be an opening act, but a DJ will play as students walk into the venue.

The higher artist cost this year (Chase Rice cost $77,000) was in part due to the low cost of the Homecoming Comedy Show, which cost $30,000 to book and had been in the works since last spring. Bermudez said that that low cost was helpful in planning this event, but that the comedy show was more about resurrecting a CUAB tradition that had waned in recent years.

“We brought back the comedy show because that has been a CUAB tradition that had been lost and we found that this was probably a way to bring it back because Homecoming concerts hadn’t actually been selling that well,” Bermudez said.

“I think it helped that we did the comedy show so that we would have more for Jubilee, but I think a part of the comedy show was just bringing back old tradition.”

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1:12 p.m. It's 2 Chainz — no lie.

On Friday, the Carolina Union Activities Board announced hip-hop artist 2 Chainz would be the 2017 Jubilee performer. 

Known for hit singles like "No Lie" and "Birthday Song," 2 Chainz's "B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time" album was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2014 Grammys. One of his latest projects, "COLLEGROVE," was a mixtape co-released by 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne in 2016.

He's also featured on multiple hit rap singles like Kanye West's "Mercy," A$AP Rocky's "Fuckin' Problems," Chance the Rapper's "No Problems" and Nicki Minaj's "Beez in the Trap." 

For some students, the announcement was a redemption from last year's performer, Chase Rice.  

"I'm excited," Ronald Harris, a sophomore psychology major, said. "It should be much better than last year." 

Eric Brown, a sophomore chemistry major, echoed his excitement.

"I feel like 2 Chainz hasn't released a popping album in a while," he said. "But it's an improvement." 

This story will be updated throughout the day.

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