As the Morgan State community prepares for the first in-person homecoming in two years, the campus is filled with excitement for the events ahead.

The biggest event of the week for students, the annual homecoming concert, will take place this Wednesday at 8 p.m in the Talmadge L. Hill Field House. This will be students’ first homecoming concert post COVID-19 lockdown.

Artists that have previously performed for the Bears have reached extreme heights in mainstream music like Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion.

This year, Morgan brought back Chicago rapper Lil Durk to headline the concert. Lil Durk previously performed on Morgan’s campus for I Love Morgan Week in 2019. 

The 28-year-old rapper began his career as an artist and has recently expanded his portfolio to media mogul. 

His 2010 music group Only The Family is now a record label, allowing Durk to discover and influence new artists.

He is best known for his songs “Hats Off” and “Three Headed Goat,” both of which contributed to his 2021 BET Hip-Hop Award win where he was nominated in four categories and won Best Duo award with Atlanta rapper Lil Baby. 

Alongside Durk will be Atlanta rapper 42 Dugg who recently made national news after the release of his freshman album, “Free Dem Boyz.” 

42 Dugg was introduced to audiences after his feature on Lil Baby’s “We Paid.” 42 Dugg’s success solidified himself as one of this year’s top artists by teaming up with rapper Future for “Maybach.” 

Lil Durk and 42 Dugg will be joined by DJ Flow and friends, a platform designed to introduce local Baltimore artists. 

For the past few years, DJ Flow and friends have introduced some of Baltimore’s hottest artists like Dreamchasers, YBS Skola and Badazz Entertainment’s Young Moose. Many are predicting that rising artists Money Jake and Def Jams Roddy Rackzz will receive the platform this year. 

Tickets to the concert were released on Oct. 6 and are still on sale for students in the University Student Center Box Office.

When The Spokesman asked the Campus Activities Board how many tickets were sold, the organization declined and said it was against their protocol. 

Amparo Dixon, senior nursing major and executive chair of the Campus Activities Board, spoke on the organization’s inability to release ticket sales.

“We are not allowed to release any information on how many tickets we’ve sold, this has always been a CAB protocol. We won’t be adding any additional tickets due to COVID-19 capacity regulations” said Dixon.

According to Natasha Lewis-Williams, interim associate vice president for student affairs, the Hill Field House has a capacity of 5,000 people. Due to COVID-19, the university cut its capacity by 25 percent, limiting the capacity to 3,750 people.

“We never meet the capacity level because we have a stage and barricades to account for and we factor that in when planning,” said Lewis-Williams. 

Although the university is hosting its first concert since the COVID-19 pandemic began, safety protocols are still set in place for the event. 

Masks are required to enter the concert and students are expected to follow the university vaccine mandate unless they are religiously or medically exempt.

However, the university did not require general admission guests to provide proof of vaccination when purchasing tickets.