By Kristine Pascual, August 29, 2023
ASI Beat hosted Cal Poly Pomona’s annual BroncoFusion Aug. 25, welcoming students to celebrate the new school year. This year’s concert lineup included two student performers, Rashooota and DJ Mech_E, followed by the opening act of the night, MISS DRE and DJ, Dillon Francis, a popular performer in the EDM scene.
Hundreds of students lined up to get into the most anticipated event of the school year. ASI expected that the event would rake in just as many people as the previous year, which sold about 4,000 tickets.
Many of this year’s concert attendees were first year students excited to attend a big social event. BroncoFusion is one of many ASI events to meet new people and make some friends.
Psychology student Mariam Yousef was thrilled to be in attendance this year.
“I didn’t go last year because I wasn’t a huge fan of the headliner,” said Yousef. “I knew I had to go this year, so I made my friends come with me because it’ll probably be fun either way.”
For student act and hip-hop rapper Rashooota, BroncoFusion was an idea that had been on his mind the last few years. Rashooota has been making music with his friends since he was 16. His friends help him produce beats, but he also engineers a lot of his work.
“My friend had a studio, and he was always rapping, and he told me to get on a song,” said Rashooota. “That’s how it all started.”
Rashoota was super energetic on stage and was ecstatic to interact with the crowd. Some attendees were even wearing Rashoota merch to show their support.
Mechanical engineering student Charlie Naff-Rhymer, or DJ Mech_E, was the opening student act of the event. He spends most of his time at his job at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory or working on a school research project. When he is not focused on school or work, his free time is devoted to experimenting with music as an EDM DJ.
Though he’s booked and busy, Naff-Rhymer always knew music was a hobby he enjoyed enough to pursue.
“You make things work for the stuff you love,” he said.
Music has always been a part of Naff-Rhymer’s life. His parents met at a radio station in Oklahoma working as DJs. He has played all kinds of instruments, but mixing stuck to him the most.
To his parents’ surprise, Naff-Rhymer decided to start mixing his favorite songs and created mashups out of them.
“I always felt there were songs that I really liked, but I wished they were done my way,” he said.
Accompanied by bright strobe lights and thick smoke, MISS DRE and Dillon Francis gave all their energy into the main acts.
MISS DRE started the night off with many of her hit songs like “Club Cravings” and “Bawdy Soul” that had the student crowd cheering along with music. She showed great appreciation for the students loving her, going as far as to debut an unreleased song that was well received.
Francis, also known as DJ Hanzel, blasted many of his original pieces, getting an enthusiastic reaction from the crowd as students danced around with their hands up high. He previewed a few new songs at the venue that kept the energy up and dancing along with the students.
His classic 3D and trippy visuals combined with his music created an energetic atmosphere throughout the performance including his hit song “Get Low.” The crowd went wild over the song and jumped and danced around to the music.
Feature image courtesy of Silas Hood
