Jeson Khan
Contributor
If there is anything to remember about the Nas concert at York, it’s that Nas never disappoints—and when he does, he makes up for it.
Nas was initially a no-show due to illness at the Yorkfest concert scheduled for September 21. This was not much of a surprise to some York students.
“I was actually expecting him not to come,” says first-year biochemistry student Ali Khan. “This man is a legend. He is like the walking Jesus of New York, and [if he doesn’t] show up in Toronto and specifically at York University […] you can expect that.”
Regardless, Khan and other students went to the concert on Wednesday to see other artists, including Shawn Desman and Danny Fernandes.
When it was announced that Nas would be unable to perform, many students began to leave, recalls Zuha Vance, first-year biomedical student.
“The organizers informed us that Nas wasn’t coming, and everyone left,” she says. “Like ‘screw that’ […] it [was] raining.”
The following day, Nas tweeted “#Yorku sorry about yesterday, I was ill. BUT Fri 23 Sept I will def be there at #Rexall @yorkfest2011 @YFSlocal68” informing followers of his intention to hold a “Redemption” concert.
Despite the initial fall-through, the York Federation of Students (YFS), which organized the concert event, was determined to get Nas to perform at York.
“We had to make sure those students got to see Nas,” explains Monirul Pathan, vp campus life. “Within roughly 13 hours, we did a lot of concert class talks, and making sure the word went out
[…] we had to manage space, security, and venue. It was quite hectic.”
Almost 3,000 people attended the make-up concert.
As student Khan puts it, the concert itself was “insane”.
“He is a legend; you got a legend.”
