Smino as homecoming headliner receives mixed reviews

Smino as homecoming headliner receives mixed reviews Categories: Arts Man on the Street Smino as homecoming headliner receives mixed reviews After the Instagram announcement of Smino headlining the homecoming concert, UI students have varying opinions about the artist selection. Payton Terronez, Arts Reporter • October 14, 2026 Emma Calabro Fans cheer during the Homecoming Concert on the Pentacrest in Iowa City on Friday, Sep. 26, 2025. Like any Big Ten school, students go all out for football season at the University of Iowa. One highlight of football season is the annual homecoming game. In addition to the pep rally, parade, corn monument, and home football game at Kinnick Stadium, the UI Homecoming Council partners with SCOPE Productions to host a free concert during homecoming week.  After the opener, the concert features one major headliner selected by SCOPE. In the past, the UI’s homecoming concerts have featured incredible artists with unforgettable performances, including Lizzo, Swae Lee, and Teezo Touchdown.  On Oct. 7, SCOPE announced through an Instagram post that this year’s headliner is Smino, an American R&B artist. Smino has accumulated 3.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify and is best known for his vocal features on other artists’ albums, including Doja Cat, J. Cole, and Chance the Rapper. He was nominated in 2022 for Best Engineered Album as a featured artist and engineer on “Dawn” by Yebba. UI students who are fans of Smino’s music are looking forward to hearing his songs live. Smino just finished up his “Everything is a Lot Tour” with Wale this year, but for fans who missed tickets, such as UI first-year student Brady Elbert, this concert means everything.  “I started listening to Smino in 2022, and I’ve been a big fan of him ever since,” Elbert said. “He’s got a cool style and has great collabs with other popular artists.” Since 2018, Smino has released five studio albums. His most streamed song on Spotify, “Wild Irish Roses,” is from his debut album “blkswan.” Songs he has been featured on are more streamed than his most popular solo-released song. This made some students question if Smino can hold his own as a headliner.  Upon hearing the headliner announcement, some students hadn’t heard of Smino before, or if they had, they hadn’t pictured him as a possible homecoming headliner.  Laura Owen, a UI second-year student, had barely heard of Smino. When thinking of the homecoming concert headliner, Owen imagined a bigger artist, someone with songs on the Billboard Top 100 in the past decade. RELATED: SCOPE Productions announces Smino as 2026 Homecoming concert headliner – The Daily Iowan  “I have barely heard of Smino, and I doubt many other people have either,” Owen said. “I just think attendance would be higher and students would have more desire to go to the concert if the artist was more well known” Gage Courter, a UI first-year student, decided to join SCOPE this year to find a creative outlet and become involved in student affairs. Since joining the organization, Courter has done photography, interviews, and social media work for SCOPE. When he learned Smino was headlining the homecoming concert this year, he couldn’t think of a better choice.  “Smino is a perfect choice for the homecoming concert because he’s at that level where people know who he is and people can get excited, but he’s still somewhat under the radar,” Courter said. “I mean, he has songs with Doja Cat, J. Cole, and more, and has opened for SZA and T-Pain. I think that he’ll bring in a big crowd of fans along with new people who will fall in love with his style” Courter believes having a talented, but not as well-known artist perform at the homecoming concert is an advantage. The advantage of having smaller artists headline homecoming is that if they blow up later, you can say you went to their concert for free at your university.  “I think it’s cooler that we’re getting smaller artists that are on the rise. We [SCOPE] had Magdalena Bay a couple years ago, and look at them now, they’re opening for Hayley Williams and have massive hits,” Courter said. “I think it’s cool to bring these artists to the homecoming concert before they inevitably blow up” Another fan of Smino’s music, UI second-year student Zach Martinez, thinks Smino will have a better stage presence and energy than past headliners. He also said Smino’s music style is highly relevant — and the crowd at Iowa will appreciate his rap style.  “Smino is current, in the now, and indicative of the space in which rap music operates,” Martinez said. “He’s also not a corny artist, which is the least we can ask from an institution like the University of Iowa.” Martinez also agrees that in the past few years, thanks to SCOPE, the headliner selection has improved. The most recent headliners have been R&B or rap artists, which most students prefer to watch perform.  “Smino being the choice for headliner follows the trend of the past few years genre-wise,” Martinez said. “We seem to be getting bigger artists here on campus that many of us enjoy.” 0 Like This Story Share on Facebook Share on X Email this Story Print this Story More to Discover More in Arts Connection through live music is easier unplugged What’s the best pumpkin latte in IC? Point/Counterpoint | Does cider or chai come second to pumpkin spice? More in Man on the Street Iowa City’s moped culture is more than just a way to get around Iowa City’s take on soup season DWTS Tuesdays are embedding themselves into UI’s campus. About the Contributor Emma Calabro, Managing Visuals & Design Editor (she/her/hers) Emma Calabro is a third-year Graphic Design BFA student at the University of Iowa, also majoring in Enterprise Leadership. She specializes in visual storytelling and design, with experience as a visuals editor and photojournalist for The Daily Iowan.