Champagne Anyone?

Welcome to the White Mountains, Wiz. This Thurs., Feb. 10, the Spring Fling Committee formally announced that PSU will host hip-hop artist Wiz Khalifa for the 2011 Spring Fling concert, to be

held on May 8. This past fall, students were asked

for their input on what has proven to be a contentious topic over the years. The students responded – and in a big way: 2,552 Plymouth votes were cast for eight separate artists, the most ever for any PSU vote and nearly twice the amount from last year's election. The Pittsburgh native received 28.8% of the popular vote, which was twelve points higher than second place Pretty Lights, who accumulated 16.8% of votes.

"We are thrilled to announce Wiz Khalifa as our Spring Fling headliner, and especially proud to be able to provide the students with the choice they called for," said President of the Spring Fling Student Planning Com- mittee, Maureen Rowe.

Khalifa, now famous for his hit and subsequent remixes of "Black and Yellow," has quietly been popping his trademark champagne while climb- ing up the charts. As of Thursday, Feb. 10, Wiz was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Billboard Rap, and the Billboard Ringtone charts. Needless to say, he's hot right now. Buzz has been circulating around his highly anticipated album, Rolling P apers, which will be released just before the concert on March 29.

Khalifa's song "Black and Yellow" spawned nationwide attention due to its close relationship with the Pitts- burgh Steelers and their culminating run to the Super Bowl. The anthem sparked a shift in "rapper fandom" in the musical arena, and was quickly retorted by Lil Wayne's remix called "Green and Yellow", in support for his hometown favorite team. Khalifa's name was circulated around college campuses this fall when he laid a track over Empire of the Sun's "Walking on a Dream", titled "The Thrill".

Spring Fling has traditionally been an integral part in the Plymouth State experience. Over the years, fans and students alike have gathered together in familiar debaucheries over the campus wide event. Last year, PSU sold 2,970 bracelets, which represents more than half of the entire school in one collegiately triumphant setting.

But Spring Fling isn't succinctly about the music. Spring Fling isn't about the quarreling over the artist, nor the hypothetical arguments as to who would have been the best choice, and it definitely isn't directly about the partying. Spring Fling is the col- lective experience that every modern Plymouth State student shares with one another, the weekend that stood above the rest and the final showdown and sunset before summer. Yes, it's about the story.

In many cases, like my own, this will be the last tradition that seniors realize. The weekend is a challenge to all friend groups to have one last "college" experience and to make it a memorable one. It's the lingering note after an awesome bottle of wine.

So when Wiz Khalifa joins us in the Spring Fling tradition, we, and

that is the collective "we", can come together as a school for one last weekend. Khalifa has all the requirements for providing us with the soundtrack (and only

the soundtrack) to be one of the best weekends of the year: hit-anthems, explo- sive beats, and he's the closest thing to ‘being

on fire' at the perfect time.

Plus, who doesn't like champagne?