In response to students’ protests of the racy lyrics of Spring Fling artists the Ying Yang Twins, the Trumbull College Master’s Office sponsored an alternative concert in the Trumbull courtyard during the Twins’ performance.
Chelsea Allen ’12 said the opposition to the Ying Yang Twins began with a series of e-mails among her and her friends quoting lyrics that they said were offensive to women. The e-mails quickly became viral, she said, as the Women’s Center and several other student groups climbed on board. Allen said she saw the event as less of a protest than a venue for students opposed to the Ying Yang Twins where they would not feel pressured to attend, and therefore condone, the rap duo’s performance.
Attendance at the Ying Yang Twin concert remained high, despite the protest, with the crowd actually increasing as the Twins took the stage. Allen said she was appreciative of the efforts of the Yale College Council to make Spring Fling “an awesome event for everyone.”
Students who attended the Ying Yang Twins had mixed responses.
“I thought they did a great job,” Kat Lau ’13 said. “They had a lot of energy and got the crowd into it.”
As for the complaints of misogyny, Lau said she was backstage as a member of the Spring Fling committee, and so could not listen closely to the lyrics. Another student, Tasia Smith ’12, added that the crowd made it difficult to listen carefully to the lyrics. Smith also said she did not like the number of cover songs the Twins performed.
At 7 p.m., when the Ying Yang Twins took the stage, students began filing in and out of Trumbull courtyard to eat Yorkside pizza and listen to the student bands. The number of students at the event reached a maximum of about 65 at 7:40 while the crowd enjoyed the funk music of student band “Cytoplasmic Flux,” more commonly known by the name, “Chilled Water Supply,” which they reserve for their jazz performances.
Two other student music groups, J Prophet and Tina Colon and Friends, also performed. Allen said all three groups contacted her prior to the performance to volunteer.
Tina Colon ’09 and her bandmates performed a song about change from the civil rights movement.
Although most of the spectators interviewed identified with the protest, some students came for the pizza and left to go see the Ying Yang Twins, which bothered two students interviewed.
“Imagine if the Ying Yang Twins came here to get pizza and went back [to Old Campus],” David Steinberg ’13 said.
The event was sponsored by Trumbull Master Janet Henrich and included face painting as well as pizza and soft drinks. Yale Police did not patrol the area.