Courtesy of Yale Spring Fling

Just past midnight on March 6, 2025, the Spring Fling committee announced that NLE Choppa, Cults and Snakehips will perform for this year’s Spring Fling through a video displayed to partygoers at Toad’s Place.

According to committee members, the lineup of artists captures the current moment in music at Yale.

“Our committee is super excited about this year’s lineup and I feel we put together a group of musicians that gives Yale students songs they know, love, and can dance to,” said Morris Raskin ’26, talent chair of the Spring Fling Committee.

Headliner NLE Choppa has amassed over 5 billion streams across various music platforms; his first Billboard Hot 100 hit was “Shotta Flow.” Since then, he’s since released a handful of hit songs — “Slut Me Out,” “Gang Baby,” “Walk Em Down” — and has accrued a combined following of over 18 million across social media platforms.

The Spring Fling stage will also be shared by New York City dream-pop band Cults and British electronic music duo Snakehips.

Describing Choppa as a “hustler,” the committee said that they chose the artist due to his continued relevance.

“We’ve been keeping our eyes out for what he’s doing and who’s listening,” said Kristin Meola ’26, hospitality and outreach chair of the Spring Fling Committee. “We’ve been to so many parties and events throughout the school year where we’ve heard him being played and that to us, was an indicator that he’s someone very current.”

Cults are best known for their hits “Always Forever” and “Bad Things” — which was sampled by rapper J. Cole in his 2013 single, “She Knows.”

According to Raskin, the group came onto the music scene in the early 2010s and recently had a “total resurgence” on the internet, reintroducing them to a new generation of college-age listeners.

“They have this very musically diverse and rich catalog, but also so many hit songs that a lot of people recognize. We really have fallen in love with the Cults’ music since,” he said.

Similar to Cults, Snakehips is a musical act that meshes many genres together. According to Jenna Chow ’27, chair of production of the Spring Fling Committee, the duo has worked with notable artists and has remixed hits, from The Weeknd to Tinashe and Chance the Rapper.

Their most-listened-to song, “All My Friends” featuring Tinashe & Chance the Rapper, has more than 600 million listens on Spotify.

“I think that they’re going to contribute a lot to the energy of the headliner, and are going to incorporate EDM into pop in a way that is singable and danceable, and also really crazy and fun,” Chow said.

The Spring Fling committee, consisting of around 25 members, hit the ground running in August and September in search of prospective artists. The committee chairs have described booking as an “arms race” in terms of timing, as many schools fight over a very limited number of artists — whose schedules are busy and fees costly.

Last year’s lineup consisted of Swae Lee, Dayglow and Coco & Breezy.

When selecting the lineup, the chairs said that they prioritize creating a festival that appeals to Yale students. As part of the search process, the committee sends out a survey asking students for their preferences and artists they’d want to hear.

According to Raskin, the survey received thousands of responses. Meola said that students consistently want songs that “they’re familiar with and know the words to.”

The committee also spends a lot of their time reviewing concert footage from potential performers to reach final decisions.

“You can love the music of someone, but at the end of the day, if they don’t have good stage presence, or they’re not a good live performer, they’re not going to have a good show,” said Willa Hawthorne ’26, Spring Fling’s creative and marketing chair.

Committee chairs have also expressed excitement to involve new members, whose roles will prove instrumental in preparing and executing this year’s concert.

“It was really wonderful to see our new class of Spring Flingers get closer throughout the year, and be so passionate about the festival itself and all the acts,” Chow said.

Although members of the committee are usually busy preparing and do not get to partake in Spring Fling festivities, Chow shared that being able to contribute to this tradition is something special.

Prior to Spring Fling performances, students can see performances from three student group winners of the committee’s “Battle Of The Bands.” Performer applications for the competition close this Friday, March 7.

Students can register for and pick up wristbands the week leading up to Spring Fling. Each attendee is allowed to bring one guest to the festival. Tickets are free.