Photo by Andrew Himmelberg

Rapper and six-time Grammy nominee B.o.B will perform at Marquette Madness, the athletic department announced in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

This is the first year the annual pep rally will include a concert. The addition of the concert comes after the athletic department axed men’s and women’s basketball scrimmages for the annual event. Team introductions and speeches from each head coach will remain in the event.

“Our marketing department investigated a number of musical acts over the course of the spring and summer and were fortunate to schedule B.o.B for Marquette Madness,” Marquette Athletics spokeperson Scott Kuykendall said. “He is a six-time Grammy nominee and has collaborated with some of the top names in the industry, which makes him a good fit for the environment we are trying to create with the Al McGuire Center full of Marquette students.”

The start time for Madness was moved from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., and the event is exclusive to students. B.o.B will perform at the end of the event.

“With the start time moved back to avoid conflicts with other Homecoming activities, we felt making Friday’s event student-focused and Saturday’s practices open to the general public was the best way to serve all of our fans,” Kuykendall said. “Also, a new format is a great way to generate even more excitement for both teams as the 2018-19 seasons rapidly approach.”

B.o.B, born Bobby Ray Simmons Jr., first gained mainstream recognition in 2010 for songs such as “Nothin’ on You,” featuring Bruno Mars as well as “Airplanes,” which was released the same year. For those two songs alone, B.o.B received three Grammy nominations as well as five nominations at MTV’s Video Music Awards. Both songs were included on B.o.B’s first studio album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray, which was released in 2010.

Since then, B.o.B has released four more studio albums, including his most recent album “Naga,” which was released in July 2018. Over the course of his career, he worked with several critically-acclaimed rappers, such as Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne and Waka Flocka Flame. B.o.B has also collaborated with famous artists outside of the rap/hip-hop genre, such as Hayley Williams of Paramore, Rivers Cuomo of Weezer and Bruno Mars.

Marquette Madness will take place Oct. 5, and students with season tickets for the 2018-’19 men’s basketball season will have priority to reserve seats. All other students can claim tickets for the event starting Sept. 26.