By Adam Coe
US hip-hop impresario Dr Dre could be at a Central Hall near you if a UGM proposed this week passes.
The motion to bring the West Coast rapper to York has been passed by the Rules and Revisions Committee, entering it into this week’s Union General Meeting. Voting by all Union members begins next Thursday and, if passed, “YUSU to try their utmost to bring Dr Dre to York,” will become active policy – mandating the Union to do it.
A Facebook campaign has also begun, with around 500 members at the time of writing. This number indicates an unusually high level of attention for UGM motions, which often fail to get passed as they don’t meet quoracy.
YUSU president Tim Ngwena is also a member of the group and reportedly supports the idea. The motion is set to be the main feature of the ‘Big Talk’ on Wednesday, 16 January.
Discussion will not only focus on Dr Dre, but wider frustration at YUSU’s failures to run successful music events. Central to the motion is charting the decline of class acts at York, which once boasted the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Paul McCartney.
Richard Costello, the second year Politics student behind the motion explained his motivation: “This is all about getting some attention, getting people talking about music again.
“Instead of getting acts like Eoghan Quigg and The Cheeky Girls, we want someone half decent and YUSU to show just a bit of ambition. Other unis can do it and I don’t see why York, which has got a good venue [at Central Hall] can’t too.”
He went on to say that “getting Dre would be brilliant but the motion’s also about consulting students about which acts they would like and moving the discussion onto YUSU.” Costello described the current music scene in York as “lamentably bad”.
It seems that not all group members support the campaign, however. Debate is already raging on the group’s wall with one poster irritating the idea’s supporters by saying that Dr Dre “appeals to the small minority of people who enjoy club music. I repeat. The small minority.”
The student was strongly rebuffed. One poster pointed at his multi-platinum album sales as proof of popularity and pointed out that Dr Dre was actually a pioneer of West Coast G-Funk, not club music.
Other members have expressed hopes of a full-on reunion of the (alive) members of Dr Dre’s previous acts, either NWA or World Class Wreckin Cru’ at the University.
Supposing the vote exceeds the minimum 150 majority needed for success, Dre’s presence would be codified in YUSU regulation for three years.
YUSU’s Big Talk is to take place on Wednesday 19th January, with voting taking place soon afterwards on the YUSU website. Further details of all UGM motions will be made available by YUSU by this time.
This is really well written
Surely Dr. Dre’s fee is well over £100,000 (and that’s a low guess). There’s a reason we don’t get big acts for balls – because we can’t afford them.
@logical student
Dr Dre would probably be more than that. The difference is with Dre, he is such a successful act and he tours so infrequently that if he DID perform we could sell thousands of tickets, and people would come from all over Europe and America to see him. This could be a huge revenue stream for the Union.
‘Costello described the current music scene in York as “lamentably bad”’ Er yeah, and Dr Dre would solve that… Of all people – why bloody Dr Dre?
Although it’s pretty funny that it looks set to be YUSU policy for three years.
baahaa
This is mental. Just what campus needs to spice things up.
Snoop Dogg too.
Do it.
@ Oliver Blackburn
If he is that popular then he’s definitely not going to perform in York – a city with no venue capable of housing the thousands of fans you claim would come flying in from all over europe. If it was going to be anywhere in the U.K., he would play in London. It’s just sensible.
And if the union auctioned off the international broadcast rights, surely that would raise a sizeable chunk of any appearance fee?
Attendees went up noticeably after this being posted. You can attend the event here:http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=182407558449310
Create some next hype.
@ logical student
If Dre came it would probably be cost effective to bulldoze the pavilion on 22 Acres and erect a stage at one end. Finding financing from a body like festival republic would be very achievable if Dr Dre agreed to come. The stumbling block is Dre agreeing. No one said that would be easy, but in a surreal way, York is as likely as London – He hasn’t toured for many years but he played a California School on a whim recently. You never know, this whole election process might appeal to him.
NO MENTION OF THE BRIAN BLESSED MOTION?