When I heard that Carly Rae Jepsen would be headlining WILD my first response was, “Good job, SPB.” When I heard that Vic Mensa and Wrabel would be opening for Jepsen, my response was, “Great job, SPB.”

This year’s WILD lineup is about as good as I could have hoped for. After two years of not being especially excited for WILD, it’s nice to get pumped. This announcement was the first that made me actually plan ahead to go to WILD.

Wrabel is a pop artist known for softer pop ballads with a slight EDM bent. Ke$ha promoted one of his single releases, so he must be pretty good. And although his music career is just now taking off, he has writing credits for artists like Ellie Goulding, Idina Menzel, Backstreet Boys and Kygo. He is also known for his activism, especially as an advocate for the transgender community.

Following Wrabel’s performance will be Vic Mensa, a Chicago-based rapper and former XXL Freshman. Mensa began his career as a part of the group Kids These Days and broke through to more mainstream audiences when he appeared on Chance the Rapper’s sophomore mixtape “Acid Rap.” Since then, he has appeared on songs with the likes of Gucci Mane and Kanye West and has become one of the biggest names in the Chicago rap scene.

And of course, Carly Rae Jepsen is headlining with her powerful pop sound which has been evolving from her time on Canadian Idol to her hit single “Call Me Maybe” to her latest album, “Emotion.” Carly Rae Jepsen is known for her upbeat pop queen aesthetic and she embraces her style in a way that makes her music that much more fun.

With this wide selection of artists, most people at Washington University should be able to find an artist they like. The variety of styles between Jepson and Wrabel mean that even the two pop artists have very different sounds, and the musical transition from Wrabel to Mensa to Jepsen is going to come with some interesting tone changes.

After last year’s Lil Dicky debacle, Social Programming Board chose a selection of artists that are significantly less offensive. On top of that, the selection gives more representation to groups that historically have been largely ignored by WILD. With a female headliner, a black opener and a LGBTQIA* opener, it looks like SPB is overcompensating in the best possible way.

All in all, I’m very excited for all of these artists. While I haven’t listened to Wrabel to the same extent as I have Mensa and Jepsen, his writing credits make me excited for his performance. This year SPB has exceeded my WILD expectations. October 5 cannot come soon enough.