On April 14, the Slope Day Programming Board announced the artists — Aminé, Loud Luxury and Luna Li — for the first in-person Slope Day since 2019, eliciting mixed responses from students.
The event’s two-year hiatus led some Cornellians to anticipate more notable artists for this year’s lineup, according to students who spoke to The Sun.
“I heard that, in previous years, there was Drake, Chance the Rapper, Nelly — people that we’re familiar with as college students,” said Dani Smith ’24, who will experience Slope Day for the first time this year. “It felt like, after COVID, the dynamic for big events changed on campus.”
To gauge student interest in different artists, the Slope Day committee created an online artist suggestion survey in November.
Ashley Yu ’23 said that she found this year’s artists acceptable but felt underwhelming compared to previous Slope Day lineups. Yu said she wished that the Slope Day Planning Board had gone to further lengths to take student opinions into consideration.
“I’m not aware of [the survey],” Yu said. “I wish they had gone about collecting student opinions in a different way.”
However, several students, like Hanan Abraha ’23, expressed excitement at this year’s lineup.
“I’m pretty satisfied with this year’s Slope Day artists,” Abraha said. “I am only familiar with Aminé, who is headlining, and I actually enjoy his music.”
Although Abraha said he looks forward to attending this year’s Slope Day, Yu and Smith expressed reduced excitement at going to the event following the release of the artists.
“I feel like a lot of us were excited for some big Slope Day comeback, since it’s the first time we’ve done it in-person in years,” Smith said. “But, that’s not really what happened.”
Regardless of the artists performing, many students — including Isabel Hou ’24 and Abraha — expressed excitement at experiencing an in-person Slope Day for the first time.
“I am still looking forward to my first Slope Day at Cornell,” Hou said. “I am excited that Slope Day is happening, and I’m excited to see how it turns out.”