Moving to the ‘gears’ all night long
The Black Student Assembly hosted 2024 Gearfest.
By NICK VIRNICH
People were dancing to the grooves and vibes all throughout Gearfest, hosted in Founders Park Friday night.
People gathered to watch the performances put on by the Black Student Assembly for 2024’s Gearfest, a festival that showcased the talent of Black artists from the USC community along with non-USC affiliated Black musical artists.
The event brought out a wide variety of artists from the Black USC community, including Sultanthegiant, Love Keyyz and Nina. The festival’s headlining act was Jordan Ward, an artist who got his start dancing for artists like Justin Bieber.
Daily headlines, sent straight to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with the latest at and around USC.
Rebecca Alston, co-director of the BSA and a sophomore majoring in the business of cinematic arts as well as music industry, said her passions for both music and experience in the BSA last year motivated her to help organize the festival.
“I’ve always loved music and I felt that, as a music industry major at USC, it was an important opportunity because I would be able to combine my passion for uplifting my community with my passion for music,” Alston said. “Being on the BSA last year, I was really inspired by the Gearfest that I had attended and wanted to help the vision come to life.”
Alston said Gearfest has built a reputation of being able to showcase the talent of notable artists pretty early in their career, including Jhené Aiko, Bruno Mars and Brent Faiyaz. This played into the BSA’s decision to choose Ward as the headliner for their festival, Alston said.
“In terms of selecting the performers, a lot of it is just seeing what people in our community liked and what they were consuming,” Alston said. “Jordan Ward is having a huge moment right now, so that was a huge factor in our decision.”
The festival kicked off with a selection of captivating dance performances from groups such as Cross Colours LA and the Cardinal Divas of SC, along with USC members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and students from the Kaufman School of Dance. The dance troupes were supported by a variety of DJs playing a selection of soul, R&B, hip-hop, dub and Afrobeats.
“In terms of the student performers, [it was] people who we saw on campus that we’ve always loved,” Alston said. “The Cardinal Divas, we enjoy seeing them at every football game and them being the dance team that they are and making history really impactful. And as far as vendors, making sure that anyone who wanted the opportunity would have a chance to showcase their talents.”
Jordan Ward, the evening’s headliner, closed out the night. (Marissa Ding / Daily Trojan)
The first musical artist to open the festival was Keshell Phillips, a sophomore majoring in popular music performance. Phillips goes by the name of Love Keyyz onstage.
Phillips originally started off as a dancer but then got into music after posting cover songs on YouTube. Her uncle then encouraged her to start making music in a studio. Gearfest was her first-ever festival performance.
“It feels really good. And also I’m a super big believer in timing because my music video came out today for my song [“In My Shoes”], and that song itself is very pro-Black,” Phillips said. “It’s about just uplifting Black people and Black culture, so I feel like it was just the perfect time to be here.”
Keyyz took the stage with her cohort of musicians and played a set of rocking soul music that helped the crowd start moving. Keyyz was dressed in high heels and long patent leather black gloves, and was rocking her fiery red hair.
Phillips said organizing festivals like Gearfest creates a space for the community of Black artists at USC.
“We get so caught up sometimes in our every day and I think it’s just really important, especially at this time of the semester, to open up that space for people to just be and just have fun and just relax,” Phillips said.
Following Phillip’s performance, Sultanthegiant took the stage to perform a couple of his songs sporting a Chicago White Sox cap, gold-framed circular glasses and a Sultanthegiant hoodie. Audience members were waving their flashlights in support by the set’s end. The artist performed songs off of his new EP titled “Tsunami.”
The night closed with the headlining performance from Jordan Ward. Ward paid homage to the Trojans by donning a vintage red USC crewneck onstage, playing many of his hits for the crowd, including “Okok (hibachi),” “FAMJAM4000” and “IDC” which kept the crowd going wild.
Two of attendees experienced the festival for their first time and left with strong feelings about the creativity that was celebrated.
“It’s my first year here at USC and seeing this right before Springfest, I feel like this is probably more my speed than Springfest will probably be,” said Destiny Rosado, a graduate student studying postsecondary administration and student affairs. “I think it’s definitely a great space for students to show off the things that they’ve been working on throughout the year.”
Marturia Yami, a Barnard College alum who attended the event, also got to experience the festival for the first time and left with a good impression.
“It’s good to have spaces with smaller, diverse artists that also especially make space for students,” Yami said. “Not only to be performers, but to share what they’ve made as artists with the physical products that they’ve made.”
