Pop-rock artist Gavin DeGraw will be sharing the stage at the College’s third annual Yardfest with the hip-hop ensemble Wu-Tang Clan, according to group member Raekwon.

The event, which will take place on Friday, April 18 in Tercentenary Theater, will feature two artists for the first time.

“The [College Events Board] wanted Yardfest to appeal to everybody on campus, and I think the artists reflect that commitment to building community,” said Benjamin P. Schwartz ’10, the vice-chair of the CEB. “We are extremely pleased with this year’s performers.”

Schwartz declined to confirm the identities of the visiting artists, but DeGraw’s record company has the singer scheduled to be at Harvard on the 18th and The Crimson spoke with Raekwon about his upcoming visit last week.

Harvard Concert Commission Director Elizabeth F. Weiss ’09 said that this year’s choices came out of musical preferences surveys of the undergraduate student body.

“We’ve done informal polling in the past—several years ago, we polled the whole campus,” Weiss said. “More recently, we’ve also done polling through the CEB and the HCC.”

The Staten Island, New-York-based hip-hop group got its start in 1993, initially as a loose affiliation of nine rappers. According to the group’s official Web site, Wu-Tang aimed to make their mark as a group and then pursue solo projects with some fame under their belts.

Since the 1993 release of their first album, “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers),” the individual rappers did just that with solo record deals and movie appearances.

Wu-Tang is not without Harvard ties. Group member Method Man starred in the 2001 film “How High,” in which Method Man and his fellow rapper Red Man smoke marijuana to ace a college entrance exam and end up at Harvard.

The group has maintained its original membership since 1993 (U-God, RZA, Raekwon, Method Man, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck, GZA/Genius, and Ghostface) minus the notable absence of Ol’ Dirty Bastard who died in 2004.

Although a product of ’90s, the ensemble is far cry from their contemporaries, Third Eye Blind, who performed last year.

Students voiced discontent at the time because Third Eye Blind’s most popular music was released almost a decade before they took the steps of Memorial Church.

Justin R. Gerrard ’10 said that the fact this year’s act was “not Third Eye Blind” was a plus for him.

Until December, Wu-Tang had not released an album in five years,

“That’s the best thing that ever happened to Yardfest,” said Keith M. Fernandez ’10, who said he has attended two Wu-Tang shows and that the group is his favorite act.

“It’s about time that we got some good acts.”

Last year’s Yardfest saw a turnout of between 1,500 and 2,000—due to the rainy weather, organizers said—significantly lower than the 7,000 who attended the year before.

“Yardfest is on, rain or shine,” Schwartz said. “I expect turnout to be strong.”

Raekwon said he was prepared to get the crowd excited even in the event of a less-than-stellar reception.

“Well, we just basically coming out with good energy on stage. You know, sometimes, you gotta just wake the crowd up,” Raekwon said. “I guess sometimes the crowd goes according to however the artist may be moving, but you can never tell because some people just wanna look at a show, some people wanna react with the show.”

In preparation for Yardfest, the CEB will be hosting “Pimp Your Stein Club” events (similar to last year) at all of the Houses beginning this Thursday, Schwartz said.

—Jessica L. Fleischer contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Aditi Balakrishna can be reached at balakris@fas.harvard.edu.



Click here Fifteen Minutes' "15 Questions" with Raekwon.