The school year will close out with a banger as rapper 2 Chainz takes the stage at Springfest this weekend.

The concert begins at 8 p.m. Saturday in Beasley Coliseum, where songwriter and R&B artist Elijah Blake will open for 2 Chainz.

Blake is an up-and-coming singer/rapper in the same vein as The Weeknd, who’s been traveling with 2 Chainz for a while now, said Michael Ehde, the Student Entertainment Board (SEB) special events programmer.

“He’s bringing backup dancers and everything. I’m sure he’s gonna put on a show,” Ehde said.

Planning for the event began early in the year when SEB released a survey asking students which genres they preferred and how much they were willing to pay for tickets.

Assistant Director of Student Involvement Berto Cerrillo said this year’s survey had the highest response rate ever, with four thousand students filling out the questionnaire.

“We do our best to get a gauge on what people want,” Cerrillo said. “We aren’t just out here picking our favorite artists.”

As in the previous years, students gravitated toward the hip-hop genre, he said.

“The EDM people didn’t like country, and the country people didn’t like EDM, but they both liked hip-hop,” Ehde said.

After the survey, the special events committee went to work on selecting the best artist for Springfest that fit within the budget, SEB Director Logan Webbenhurst said. The committee looked at artists like B.o.B., The Weeknd and Schoolboy Q before choosing 2 Chainz to headline Springfest, he said.

“It’s been a big year for 2 Chainz,” Ehde said. “He got his own YouTube channel, appeared on Nancy Grace, and released a mixtape.”

Despite the record number of survey respondents and the big-name headliner, Springfest ticket sales are still down compared to previous years, Cerrillo said.

Cerrillo said it’s possible the campus is just burned out on hip-hop, or maybe students expect more from their entertainment experiences now than just a concert.

“We learn and get better every year. It’s all a learning process,” Cerrillo said. “We wish that ticket sales were higher, but at the end of the day we’ll put on a great show for students.”

Ultimately, Springfest exists as a way for students to celebrate the end of the year together, he said.

“It’s about sharing an experience you wouldn’t normally get in Pullman, and we hope it brings the community together,” he said.

Tickets to the concert are $32 for WSU students with I.D., $37 for non-WSU students and $42 for the general public. Tickets can be purchased online at TicketsWest.com or at the Beasley Coliseum ticket office.