Gym Class Heroes to headline WUstock 2012

| Senior Cadenza Editor

Rap-rock band Gym Class Heroes (above) will be headlining this year’s WUStock.Courtesy of Gym Class Heroes

Rap-rock band Gym Class Heroes (above) will be headlining this year’s WUStock.

For us, gym class in 1997 meant games of tag and doing the locomotion. For the band that the Congress of the South 40 (CS40) is bringing to campus, gym class in 1997 was where Travie McCoy and Matt McGinley came together to start making music. And on April 7, Washington University students will get to hear that music when Gym Class Heroes will show up on the Swamp to headline WUStock.

Though Gym Class Heroes first joined together in upstate New York in the late ’90s, it wasn’t until 2004 that the band found its current form. Now, the rap-rock group consists of McCoy, McGinley, lead guitarist Disashi Lumumba–Kasongo and bass guitarist Eric Roberts. Gym Class Heroes consistently break genre barriers by combining hip-hop, R&B, rap and funk into one cohesive sound.

Gym Class Heroes released their first major-label album, “The Papercut Chronicles,” in 2005. After two more studio releases, the band decided to take a break, allowing McCoy to pursue a solo career. After a few top-notch collaborations with stars like Bruno Mars on “Billionaire,” McCoy rejoined his band in 2011. They released hit “Stereo Hearts” with Adam Levine last summer and dropped their most recent album, “The Papercut Chronicles II,” in October of 2011.

CS40 uses a somewhat complicated method to decide whom to bring to WUStock. Sophomore Bailey Breems, CS40 Swamp Committee chair, described the process: The committee “narrowed it down to 10 [bands], based on availability, budget, and reviews of the bands.” After that, the [Swamp] Committee narrowed it down to five choices, which were then offered in a student vote.

The students came out strong for Gym Class Heroes, who won the vote by more than five percentage points.

Last year, CS40 brought in indie duo Matt & Kim as the headliners, and the event was a huge success. Will this year’s event have such a good turnout?

“We do hope that WUStock will continue to grow every year,” Breems said. “It’s a relatively new event.”

Whether or not 2012’s WUStock will top last year’s show, Gym Class Heroes will bring amazing energy to the Swamp when they come to visit. Student bands will also perform at WUStock, and the full lineup will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Sign up for the email edition

Stay up to date with everything happening at Washington University and beyond.

Subscribe