By: Serina Gousby

The Lights dimmed slowly away from the audience and proceeded into the stage as the band played the intro to “Trouble”, off of J. Cole’s Born Sinner album.

The crowd rose in excitement chanting “J. COLE! J. COLE!” while they waited for the popular rapper to make his grand entrance and take his first steps onto the stage. Moments later, the 6’3″ superstar came down the stairs with black jeans, a long black t-shirt; his custom made “SINNERS” snapback hat, and a silver diamond Jesus piece necklace around his neck.

As the Born Sinner album cover was shown on the large projector screen, red lights appeared under him as he walked to the microphone; yelling out “Suffolk!”

Nov. 6 was definitely a night to remember as the Suffolk University’s annual fall concert was held at the Royale Boston nightclub on Tremont Street; with the help of the Student Government Association (SGA) and Student Leadership and Involvement (SLI).

By 6:15 p.m., a huge line took over the sidewalk with many anxious students waiting to enter the historic venue, while two security guards stood at the entrance checking out Suffolk IDs and tickets. By 7 p.m.,  the club was filled with students facing the stage on the dance floor, waiting for the concert to start.

Although there did seem to bit of a time delay, a trend many concerts seem to engage in, SGA and the concert committee eventually  stood as the Emcees to announce the opening acts,  including W!cked Hip Hop Dance Crew and Suffolk’s Step Team.

W!cked bounced on the stage confidently wearing different outfits in combinations of black, red, and white colors. From dancing very sassy and sophisticated to Beyoncé’s “Till the End of Time” to hood and gangsta on Meek Mill’s “I’m a Boss,” the crew gave the crowd energy to prepare for J. Cole.

Suffolk’s very own Step team performance spiced up their usual routine by collaborating different steps with a funny and exhilarating skit about broken hearts and cheating boyfriends.

As J. Cole hit the stage after a long and stressful wait, he immediately addressed his tardiness due to a situation backstage; and naturally the crowd forgave him.

J. Cole immediately started performing songs from his sophomore album, Born Sinner, including: “Trouble,” “Land of the Snakes,” “Runaway,” and “She Knows.”

In addition, he performed “Can’t Get Enough,” “Work Out,” and “Nobody’s Perfect” from his first album, Cole World.

The Sideline Story Cole brought the mood down by sitting on his stool and set an intimate performance by performing “Kenny Lofton” from his Yours Truly II mixtape, and invited his day one fans to rap word by word his old classic “Lights Please,” from his second mixtape, The Warm Up.

He expressed through humor that if some didn’t know the song, “this is your opportunity to go the bathroom, we will do Power Trip in a few minutes.”

Fortunately, everyone in the crowd united with him from the first verse to the chorus.

Cole took a portion of the show and introduced his band, which included a DJ, two female background singers, two keyboard players, a drummer, and a guitarist.

What blew the introductory out of the water was the background singers; showcasing their powerful and compelling voices and pulling an amazed reaction from artist J. Cole, leaving him speechless his only spoken response was “damn,” as his facial expressions made it clear he was impressed.

Following that, Cole brought the energy back up, performing another mixtape record, “Chris Tucker,” which then he interrupted the performance to rant about being prejudged by a woman on an airplane. Within his story, he revealed that he loved the Patriots and danced as his band played football themed music and that he graduated magna cum laude at St John’s University.

While he closed the show with his top two singles, “Crooked Smile” and “Power Trip,” he gladly stayed and shook the front audiences hands before he left the stage.

J. Cole delivered an incredible performance, amazing from beginning to end, and left the entire Suffolk community in awe.

I give the most gratitude to SGA and SLI for creating a marvelous concert and for J. Cole for bringing Boston and Suffolk together to experience such a wild and mellow Wednesday night.