Brooklyn hip-hop artist Talib Kweli will be the lead act at fall W.I.L.D. on Oct. 11, officials from Team 31 confirmed Tuesday.

Kweli, best known for his song “Get By,” will be the second hip-hop artist in a row to perform at fall W.I.L.D., following Lupe Fiasco last year.

Also appearing at the show will be rappers Little Brother, David Banner and Kid Sister. Little Brother and Banner will be on tour with Kweli in October, along with The Rhythm Roots All-Stars, their backup ensemble.

The prospect of Kweli’s performing at Washington University attracted attention last year when 600 students joined a Facebook group entitled “GET TALIB KWELI TO WASHU FOR FREE.” Although the initiative did not succeed, Team 31 Co-chair Jordan Roberts said that the effort generated excitement around Kweli that led Team 31 to consider the artist as a possibility.

“There was a big push to get Talib to perform for free at Wash. U.,” Roberts, a junior, said. “He was one of the top people requested [for W.I.L.D.]. Students wanted him.”

Roberts added that another significant factor in Kweli’s selection was the logistics of the performance, which place limits on who can appear at W.I.L.D.

“[For] a lot of artists, their prices are way too high or they have another engagement or they’re recording or they’re not in the Midwest,” he said. “Usually we have 10 options and only one of those options works out.”

Though Kweli is the second rapper to highlight W.I.L.D. in three semesters, some involved in campus live-music performances noted the extent to which Kweli’s musical style differed from that of Lupe Fiasco.

“Talib Kweli is a great emcee,” sophomore Andrew Warshauer, a DJ on KWUR, said. “I like the way they’ve been doing the hip-hop this year. They had more mainstream rap last year. Talib Kweli represents a more alternative side.”

Roberts also appreciates Kweli’s potential to energize the student body.

“Talib’s a bit more experienced [than Lupe Fiasco],” Roberts said. “Lupe Fiasco is smooth and cool, and Talib goes after you and hits you hard. Talib is a better performer, and hopefully he’ll show that in October.”

Team 31 hopes that Kweli’s assertive style will serve to make the musical performance once again the focus of W.I.L.D., which Roberts says has shifted to drinking and partying earlier in the day, leading to students being too tired or drunk by time the concert starts to appreciate the acts.

“We need to get people more excited about the music aspect,” Roberts said. “Regardless of whether they make it [to the show] or not, they have a good time but tons of kids don’t make it or leave early. [We need to] let people know and get the word out about the opening [acts].”

Junior Dione Drew, Team 31 co-chair, also credited the University’s evolving alcohol policy for taking the focus of W.I.L.D. off alcoholism.

“It’s been lost in the last several years, but there’s always been a strong camp to get people to act more responsibly,” Drew said. “It’s not going to be overnight, but [less drinking] would definitely be something we would appreciate and look forward to in the future.”

While Roberts said that Team 31 can do little to influence the University’s alcohol policy, the group is looking forward to an increased publicity campaign leading up to the event that will aim to highlight the lesser-known opening acts and a local act that has yet to be determined.

Among the initiatives that Team 31 is working on are an updated Web site for the concert and the opportunity to play some of the openers’ songs in central campus areas during the week of the concert.

“In the past, [W.I.L.D] has been announced, people know the date and they show up,” Roberts said. “Hopefully some of those things will encourage people to listen to a song or two.”

A third factor in W.I.L.D.’s new publicity plan is that this is the first time that the concert will be sponsored. FloTV will be contributing to the event, with several other sponsors yet to be determined. Although nothing has been set up as of now, Team 31 expects the sponsors to hold events throughout the day of the concert to attract students.

Another advantage of sponsorship is the reduction in artists’ prices, allowing W.I.L.D. to save its money for its show next semester.

“You shouldn’t expect anything much more than in past semesters, but they’ll have a little more to spend than last semester,” Roberts said.

Though discussions for next semester have yet to start, Roberts expects a rock band to be the leading act, continuing the alternation between rap and rock arranged in past semesters. Either way, Roberts expects some on campus do disapprove of Team 31’s selection.

“It depends on timing, but I think they’re going to try to get a rock-inclined lineup,” Roberts said. “No matter who is playing, there’s always someone that isn’t pleased, and those people make the most noise about it.”

But Warshauer said that despite the criticism, the alternation between genres works well for students.

“Last semester was funkadelic but it was a great balance,” he said. ‘That’s one of the most unique things on campus. I don’t know other campuses that have two big festivals: one that’s catered toward hip-hop and one that’s catered toward music.”