Some of MTSU’s talented student
artists had an opportunity to showcase their gifts at “Open Mic Night” held
Friday evening in the Keathley University Center Theater.
Sponsored by the I Am Me
Inc. female student group, the April 1 event lasted just over two hours and
featured poetry, rap, and singing throughout more than a dozen performances.
MTSU junior Laxaviera
Garrett, I Am Me’s director of public relations, said that the open mic night was
one of the major events of the year for the group, which has a mission of
empowering female students and building their self-esteem.
“We have different
events on campus all year round and we normally have two big events to try to
bring everyone out on campus, and this was one of them,” Garrett said.
Myra Shaw, who hosted
the event and serves on I Am Me’s history committee, shed light on how the
event’s origins and the overall goals for the night.
“Our different
committees all just came together and sort of made this event happen,” she
said. “We wanted to raise money for our organization and also wanted to
showcase the talent on campus and help people get their names out there.”
Artists from MTSU, Fisk
University in Nashville, and Clarksville all performed. Some of the standouts
from the night included MTSU students Kameron Curry, who performed “Nightcap,”
and Douglas Telford, who debuted his song “The Heart.”
Both artists were
thrilled at the chance to not only perform live in front of a crowd, but also being
able to network with the other different artists that performed.
“I
thought I did pretty well tonight. I could see the crowd was definitely engaged
and had their eyes on me,” Telford said. “A couple of people came to me
afterward and (said) they enjoyed it and they wanted to hear more from me or
they wanted to work (with me).”
Curry was
equally pleased. “I’m just thankful to I Am Me for giving me a shot. A lot of
people know I rap and produce, but now for the first time I actually get to
show it.”
MTSU student
Jasmine McCraven and Tay Keith served as the DJ’s for the event as well aiding
in crowd control.
McCraven,
who hosts a radio show on MTSU’s student-run WMTS 88.3 FM, was pleased overall
with the quality of the performances and being approached to help DJ the event.
“With (I
Am Me) being an all-female organization, they felt like it would be a good look
to have a female DJ partner with a male DJ to work on this together,” she said,
adding that she thought the event had “a great turnout” and that the work by
her and Keith improved the show.
Keith has
a following on campus and has already produced music for artists such as
Memphis acts Blac Youngsta and Snootie Wild. He enjoyed teaming up with the
different organizations.
“We all
have our own different movements and I just felt that it was the best for me to
do the show with her (McCraven),” he said. “The energy was cool and I
definitely felt we helped control the crowd along with the great acts.”
— Steven
Michael Johnson (news@mtsu.edu)
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