Sacramento State students danced the night away at UNiQUE’s Silent Beats and Hip-Hop Heat silent disco event featuring local artist Sleepy Chi in the University Union Ballroom on Thursday night.
Sleepy Chi’s performance immersed attendees in a showcase of both music and art as students were given the opportunity to look at the artist’s personal paintings and drawings while singing along to his original songs like “punt” and “Impressions.”.
UNiQUE Program Advisor Ajamu Lamumba said he appreciates the art Sleepy Chi creates.
“I call him a two banger,” said Lamumba. “He has his hop-hop show and he’s also a visual artist…We try to support local artists as much as possible.”
The silent disco event had three different stations with different music genres for the attendees to switch between during the sessions.The green station had mostly rap, hip-hop and R&B while the red and blue stations played EDM and funk pop which included artists like Doja Cat, Drake and The Jackson Five.
All three DJ’s curated their best mixes to give students diverse music to listen to whenever one station got stale. This created an inner competition between each DJ to see which station had the most listeners.
Bags of popcorn and water were provided for students to enjoy when they needed a break from the fun.
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Third-year interior architecture major Ashlyn Winters attended the silent disco event with her friends and explained her motivation for showing up to the event.
“I wanted to find some community, and make sure that I’m a part of the school,” Winters said.
When one headphone color illuminated the room, students often switched stations to see what the hype was about creating a roar of karaoke-like vocals among the crowd.
Attendees from all around the room went bonkers to songs like “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus and “Time of Our Lives” by Pitbull & Ne-Yo.
Second-year film major Selene Lopez highlighted the importance of Sac State having silent disco events as opposed to traditional music events.
“Silent discos are a much better experience because you can alter what you’re listening to,” Lopez said. “Even if you’re not listening to the same music as your friend, you can both have a really good time.”
Third-year child development major Faith Collins said the atmosphere was exciting and had a good vibe.
“I would describe it as lit and hyphy,” said Collins. “I would say the old school and hip-hop channels were my favorite.”
Additional activities for attendees included friendship bracelet making and group photos in an inflatable selfie dome.
Lamumba said UNiQUE’s events are meant to provide a space to help bring people together.
“We’re here for the students,” Lamumba said. “Our program exists to give students campus life.”
