Kendrick Lamar wasn’t surprised to get his rejection letter for Stanford’s Frost Fest 2025, but he was disappointed. “I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up” he wrote on a recent Insta story, “kids these days need to win like 23 Grammys to get into that school. I don’t even know why I feel so disappointed; my agent told me it was a reach gig for sure.”
Many artists have also turned to their socials to complain about the competitiveness of headlining university music festivals. “The process is just so unfair” singer-songwriter SZA posted yesterday morning, “After my rejection from Harvard Yardfest, I read that around 33% of the performers accepted were related to a previous Yardfest headliner. It’s rigged from the start”
Despite initial disappointments, both artists expressed gratitude for the chance to perform at the Super Bowl this year. Lamar and SZA both let Flipside know how important it is for their music to reach such large audiences, but did voice some regret about the Halftime Show. Lamar highlighted that, while money is not an issue for him, getting rejected from Frost Fest to participate in an unpaid show feels demoralizing as an artist. SZA added on some concerns about the homogenous demographics of the venue: “I could not find one single Asian CS geek in the crowd. I’m sick of pretending I want to play for other people.”
Stanford Concert Network wishes Kendrick Lamar the best in his career, stating “While we were very impressed by Mr. Lamar’s application, there are simply more talented artists than we have headliner spots at Frost Fest, but we look forward to watching all of the amazing accomplishments in the future.” While SCN has faced some pushback from students for this decision, they have revealed some positive news to uplift the spirits of the student body—a second Stanford concert! Just two hours ago, SCN posted an update on their website that Drake has volunteered to headline a private concert on Admit Weekend for all of the recently-admitted profros, out of the goodness of his heart. “What a stand-up guy” SCN President, Josh Bahk, told us, “Now that’s class.”
