The Cataracs and Das Racist To Perform at Yardfest

UPDATED: March 21, 2012, at 4:16 a.m.

The Cataracs and Das Racist will perform at the spring College-wide concert Yardfest on April 15, according to Cataracs General Manager Joshua Andriano and Das Racist representative Clayton Blaha.

The Cataracs, a two-man hip-hop group, are best known for their song “Top of the World.” They were featured in Dev’s “Bass Down Low” and last year’s Yardfest headliner Far East Movement’s “Like a G6.”

Das Racist, a Brooklyn based hip-hop group, emerged on the music scene in 2008 with the song “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.” The group is know for its 2011 single “Michael Jackson.”

The College Events Board, which organizes Yardfest every year along with the Harvard College Concert Commission, is also hosting a “Battle for Yardfest” event to choose a student group to open for the celebrity performers. The winner will be chosen after the groups perform at the Student Organization Center at Hilles on March 30.

CEB Co-Chair Emily S. Rutter ’13, who is also a Crimson sports editor, said that the organization would formally announce the performers in the coming weeks after picking the student performers. It remains unclear whether this year’s Yardfest will feature a third celebrity musical group as it has done in the past two years.

Last year, Yardfest overlapped with the College’s Visitas program—the visiting weekend for high school students who have been offered admission to the College—contributing to a record high turnout at the concert. This year, Visitas will be the weekend following Yardfest.

Yardfest 2011 featured performances from The White Panda and Sam Adams alongside Far East Movement. The year prior, singer and rapper Kid Cudi performed alongside indie-folk artist Patrick Park and rapper Wale.

Spring musical festivals are highly-anticipated events for many students at Ivy League universities. The electronic artist Tiësto will headline the University of Pennsylvania’s Spring Fling this spring, with Passion Pit as the opening act. Yale’s Spring Fling will feature rapper T-Pain alongside rapper BIG RyAT.

—Staff writer Hana N. Rouse can be reached at hrouse@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Justin C. Worland can be reached at jworland@college.harvard.edu.