If you’re trying to study in Leavey Library tonight - good luck! Tonight marks the return of USC’s annual spirit rally and concert, “Conquest”, on McCarthy Quad.
Conquest stems from the long-standing rivalry between USC and their crosstown rivals UCLA. It will open with a rally featuring the Trojan Dance Force, the Trojan Marching Band, the Song girls, and the USC Spirit Leaders. A concert featuring rapper Baby Jake and headlined by Icona Pop will follow soon after, featuring a performance of the hit song “I Love It” featuring Charlie XCX.
This is a big event for the school and the students, but what does it mean to the performers?
Ingrid Griffin is a 21-year-old country and pop singer-songwriter hailing from Lincoln, Nebraska, who attends USC to pursue a major in Music Industry. The senior student is also a DJ at KXSC Student Radio and will perform an eight-minute set with original compositions as part of the festivities. Griffin has experience performing at many different venues, but this performance is different from her usual street-style showcase.
Ingrid Griffin: I have played with a lot of different types of places. Oftentimes I do busking, which means just kind of playing on the street for tips. I do that at farmer’s markets and flea markets and things like that.
This is different cause, um, and I like that it’s different because I sort of get people’s full attention for 8 minutes.
Conquest empowers student performers with a platform to share their original works in front of the Trojan community, and Griffin is excited for the chance to reach a wider audience.
Griffin: I mean, it’s just great experience under my belt. It’s my favorite thing to do in the whole world is perform. And I’m also so excited that I’m going to be singing an original because this is probably the song I’m most proud of that I’ve ever written. And I think it’s one that college students will be able to relate to a lot. So I’m hoping that it sort of piques people’s interest about my original music.
Musicians aren’t the only ones buzzing for tonight’s Conquest: Students around campus are just as excited to attend! Senior Candace House, Business in Cinematic Arts major, shared her enthusiasm for the performers.
Candace House: I’m looking forward to see the Cardinal Divas as well as the headliner icon of Pop because they’re singing “I Love This,” which is a song. I love it.
Another student performer is Hannah Ethridge, a member of Cardinal Divas and a Senior studying African American studies. This will be her second year performing at Conquest with the majorette team.
Hannah Ethridge: It means a lot because. Not a lot of we don’t have a lot of support from the school with wanting to with wanting us to dance on the field, which is what typical majorette teams do.
A show of support from the Trojan community makes this return even more significant for the majorettes.
Ethridge: It just means that, you know, people still want to see us, people like what we’re bringing to the table. So it means that, you know, we’re like, seen or loved and we are appreciated in this community.
Conquest festivities will begin at 6:20 in McCarthy Quad following our show.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Qais Adawiya.