Busta Rhymes performs at the Lavieties Pavilion before thousands of undergraduates Friday night.

Busta Rhymes nonchalantly strolled on stage in front of a restless crowd of nearly 3,000 students a little after 11 p.m. Friday night at the Lavietes Pavilion.

The New York-born, Caribbean-accented rapper—along with members of his crew, the Flipmode Squad—had kept the crowd waiting for over two hours.

Students had formed a line outside of the Pavilion well before the 9 p.m. start time for the Springfest concert, sponsored by the Undergraduate Council and the Harvard Concert Commission (HCC).

Busta Rhymes was expected on stage by 10:15 p.m. after the student opening acts, according to HCC director Justin H. Haan ’05. Haan said the rapper ran into some traffic on the way over from his hotel.

But when he finally took the microphone, the multi-platinum artist sought to verify the title of his latest hit single, “I Know What You Want.”

Dressed in a purple and gold jersey embroidered with the word “Flipmode” and a matching hat, Busta Rhymes mesmerized the audience with some of his most popular songs, including “Make It Clap,” “Break Ya Neck” and “Pass the Courvoisier,” during his hour-long set under multicolored lights on a temporary stage.

Haan, who is also a Crimson editor, said the place “caught fire” when Busta Rhymes showed up.

Students waved their hands in the air, jumped up and down, and sang along. A few attempted to crowd-surf, though they were not very successful.

Due to inclement weather, HCC moved the concert from the Malkin Athletic Center Quad inside to the Lavietes Pavilion across the Charles River.

The concert began with an acrobatic display by the Harvard Breakers, a group of undergraduate break dancers. Brian D. Lee ’06 wore a black fedora as he contorted his body during a popping routine. Lee said the Breakers, which was founded just last year, did two of its biggest shows on Friday, at Eleganza earlier in the night and later at the Busta Rhymes concert.

After a presentation by the Harvard Spoken Word Society, the concert’s masters of ceremonies Okechukwu “Oke” W. Iweala ’06 and Ayodola “Ayo” Adigun ’06 hosted a freestyle rap battle.

In a scene reminiscent of the 2002 movie 8 Mile with the rapper Eminem, the final round of the competition featured Theodore “Teddy” B. Bressman ’06 against Mikal N. Floyd-Pruitt ’06. Bressman, who had won favor with the crowd for his witty yet off-beat verses, eventually fell to the smoother, more lyrically-sophisticated Floyd-Pruitt. The winner took home a $150 gift certificate to the new Adidas store on Mass. Ave.

Following the battle, Harvard rap group Tha League warmed up the crowd by performing some of their songs—an experience not altogether new to them. In February 2003, Nicholas H. Barnes ’05 (N.I.C.), Dominique C. Deleon ’04 (Satchel Page), Kwame Owusu-Kesse ’06 (K. Kess) and Brandon M. Terry ’05 (Hollaman), formerly known as The Justice League, opened for rap artist Fabolous at the Orpheum Theater in Boston.

On Friday night, they rapped and danced to their originals “Yeah Shorty,” “Stop Stop,” “Run It Back,” “Ina Di Party” and “The Moment I Wake Up.”

After the concert, Owusu-Kesse said he was happy that the crowd “showed us some love.”