The Rocket

Issue date: 5/4/07 Section: Focus

Media Credit: Steve Reed Atlanta native rap superstar T.I. performed songs from many of his albums when he appeared Monday night in the Aebersold Student Recreation Center. [Click to enlarge]

With colored lights flashing and a fog machine, two-time Grammy Award winner and rap superstar T.I. performed Monday night in the Aebersold Student Recreation Center gymnasiums.

The approximate 2,100 people in attendance were crammed tightly together in front of the stage as the opening acts, DJ Bonics and Wiz Khalifa, took the stage respectively.

Doors for the UPB-sponsored event opened at 6:30 p.m., at which time all those entering the ARC had to pass through metal detectors and be patted down by security, all of whom were wearing yellow shirts. Also scattered around outside and throughout the facility were UPB members assisting with the concert, most of whom were wearing bright orange shirts.

Bonics, 26, according to his MySpace Web site, is a native of Philadelphia who found himself on the western side of the state and learned the art of disc-jockeying while attending the University of Pittsburgh.

After being on Pitt's student-run radio station while in college, Bonics has quickly moved up to bigger and better things, and has had the opportunity to share his mixing skills with artists such as Dave Chapelle, Sean Paul, Snoop Dogg, DMX, Lil' Kim and Ludacris.

Wiz Khalifa, 19, according to the Rolling Stone Web site, is a Pittsburgh native who is being called the biggest rapper to come out of that city yet. When his debut album, "Show and Prove," was produced by a small record company, Rostrum Records, in September, "the album spread by word of mouth, becoming a mainstay on college radio and earning slavish attention from tastemakers like okayplayer.com and XXL magazine."

Though Khalifa has been offered deals from bigger record companies, the Rolling Stone Web site said he's not ready to sign big just yet.

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