Lyrics move crowd

Hip hop artist Andy Mineo motivates audience during CFAW

The crowd wrapped around the block of the Vines Center Friday night, Sept. 19, as many were anxious to hear the Italian hip hop artist from New York City, Andy Mineo.

perform — Andy Mineo’s lyrics empowered students to be active for Christ. Photo credit: Liberty News Service

Perform — Andy Mineo’s lyrics empowered students to be active for Christ. Photo credit: Liberty News Service

A number of fans standing in line were sporting shirts with the logo “1-1-Six” on the back. That is the logo of the “116 Clique,” a Christian hip-hop group.

Members consist of Lecrae, Andy Mineo, KB, Trip Lee, Tedashii, Sho Baraka and more. The name of the group came from the shared belief in the Bible verse Romans 1:16, which says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to
the Gentile.”

Student Bryan Bareford, who attended the concert, said Mineo’s music speaks to him because the songs motivate him to get up and do something for Christ.

“I feel like a lot of his songs are about going out there and actually doing something as opposed to just being a ‘stay-at-home-Christian’ and actually getting your hands dirty for the cause of God,” Bareford said.

At 7:30 p.m., fans poured into the Vines Center. People with floor seats abandoned their chairs to be up against the stage and as close to the music as possible.

Hip-hop artist KB opened the show. He pumped energy into the room, especially through his song “100.” While introducing the song, KB was swinging a sweatshirt around his head and said to the crowd, “When this sweatshirt hits the ground, I want to see you all lose your minds. I want you to turn up so high that we’ll have to peel you off the ceiling.”

When the sweatshirt fell, the crowd responded as he asked.

Braxton Critcher, a College for a Weekend student, shared his opinion on Liberty’s choice of musical acts brought to campus.

“I’m really impressed,” Critcher said. “They’ve got the big time artists.”

A collection of clips from the film Hook, featuring Robin Williams, played on the jumbotron as Andy Mineo’s song “Neverland” began to play. Mineo came out full of vitality, so much so that he ended the song by jumping off the stage and into the crowd for a little bit of crowd surfing.

“You might witness some crazy antics tonight, but that’s just us being us,” Mineo said referring to himself, his DJ and KB.

One song that seemed very popular with the crowd was Mineo’s “Paisanos Wylin,” an upbeat song influenced by his Italian background. A line that is repeated over again throughout the single is “red wine on everything.” Mineo spoke about how many people misinterpret that line and think that he is condoning drinking and partying, but what he is really trying to say is that Christians need to pour the wine of Jesus Christ on everything.

Following “Paisanos Wylin,” he performed his song “Uno Uno Seis,” which is related to Romans 1:16 and the “116 Clique.” This song also has a Latino influence, which he said comes from being married to a Puerto Rican woman.

At the end of the show, Mineo jumped off the stage and made his way into the aisles, dancing and singing with the crowd.

KOENIG is a feature reporter

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