Uncomfortable

Kelly Hinseth | Staff Writer

Celebrity spottings are not really a norm here on campus, but tonight, rapper Andy Mineo will take the stage in Benson Great Hall at 8 p.m. Mineo is in the midst of his biggest tour yet, Uncomfortable, named after his latest album released in August.

Mineo is making stops all around the country, predominantly at universities where a lot of his fans are located. “There’s a lot of energy there on campuses,” Mineo said. “That’s the really cool thing about getting to meet my fans right where they are at.”

Meeting people, particularly college students, where they are at is an important to Mineo, whose music career began taking off in college. “College was a place where I discovered a lot about myself and who I want to be,” he said. “I think it’s important to go back in that I can really relate to college students.”

Mineo’s presence on campus goes beyond just rocking Benson’s walls on a Friday night. Today, students of reconciliation studies and a variety of other majors gathered in the Underground for the chance to hear him share his own experiences with everything from his faith and reconciliation.

“I want to change the way people see the world,” he said. “I’m not saying I have all the answers but I’m hoping that sharing the worldview I have developed will have a helpful message for people.”

His latest album, Uncomfortable, has been Mineo’s best-selling album to date. The word itself came to him and is inspired by his own personal experiences over the course of writing it.

“The name Uncomfortable is just a snapshot of where I’ve been this past year,” Mineo said. He said the inspiration has came over time as he’s grown and been shaken up as a person, believer and a man. “What I have learned over the past year is that you have to embrace the discomfort and let it mold you,” he said, “instead of running from it.”

Tonight, students can look forward to a night Mineo’s hits and what he calls “eclectic music” from Mineo, SPZRKT and Propaganda. “It’ll be three hours of musical goodies,” Mineo said. “It will infect your ears and cause ear babies.”