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More than 1,000 students packed into Rec Hall last night where rap superstar Childish Gambino officially kicked off Homecoming week.

Prior to Gambino’s performance, Homecoming held its annual dance competition. It was a close competition, and in the end, the judges crowned R.A.M. Squad the 2013 champion.

However, everyone in the building was most excited for who came on next.

Childish Gambino, the rap name of actor/comedian Donald Glover, kicked off his hour-long set with high-energy performances of “Firefly,” the 3rd single off his latest album Camp, and arguably his biggest song, “Freaks and Geeks.”

After a freestyle, Gambino announced that “I got a new album coming out soon, so this is the last time we’re gonna play a lot of this shit,” and had the crowd singing along with his songs “Heartbeat” and the Adele-sampling “Do Ya Like.”

Gambino then played a barrage of hits right in a row, including “You See Me” and “Bonfire,” and announced that he would be playing some new songs off his unreleased album.

For his finale, Gambino proclaimed, “This is easy. There’s three drops in this song, and I just wanna see all of you lose your shit on each drop, alright?” He then gave his best performance of the night, a dynamic version of “Lights Turned On.” With a simple “Thank you Penn State,” Gambino ended what turned out to be a great night in Rec Hall.

Despite not having the ideal atmosphere for a rap concert — Gambino repeatedly pointed out that the lights were too bright in the main gym — the rapper gave what may end up being one of the best performances that any artist will give at Penn State this year.

About the Author

Alex Robinson

Alex Robinson was Onward State's Acting Managing Editor/Resident Old Man. He lived in Harrisburg almost his whole life, but he says he's from California -- where he was born -- because that's more fun. He loves cats and Chinese food, but only separately. He met both Ben Affleck and Kanye West within a half hour, so the three of them are basically best friends. If you want to hear his #scorching #hot #takes, you can follow him at @ARobinsonPSU or email him at [email protected]