MAY 8, 2025 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | By Margaret Freeman (A&E Editor)
If you have been on YikYak at any point over the last few blocks, you probably saw posts about the lack of a 2025 Llamapalooza lineup. After the Battle of the Bands on March 30 when Shop Dog and Slut Council won the ticket to perform at Llama, many Colorado College students anxiously waited to find out what other musicians would be performing.
After many weeks of anticipation (and even getting Rick Rolled by the Llama committee), the acts were announced on May 2. So, who are these performers that will be gracing the Colorado College campus on Saturday, May 10?
Flyana Boss
Headlining Llamapalooza 2025 is Flyana Boss. The hip-hop and rap duo based out of Los Angeles is made up of Bobbi LaMea Tyler and Folayan Kunerede. Both artists created music separately for many years before uniting in music school to create Flyana Boss. Their name is a play on actress and singer Diana Ross’s name after Tyler saw the Ross poster on her wall while coming up with names of cultural icons they could base their name on.
Flyana Ross released their first song “Bossi” in 2019 but they came to prominence in 2023 after their song “You Wish” went viral on TikTok (you know the one: “Hello Christ, I’m ‘bout to sin again/I said I love you to that man but I’m not feeling him”). Flyana Boss even remixed “You Wish” with Missy Elliott and Kaliii.
Much of Flyana Boss’s success has come from the energetic TikTok video’s they made to their songs at iconic locations including Disney World, the Santa Monica Pier and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Since their rise to fame, the self-proclaimed “besties that do music together” have amassed 1.3 million followers on TikTok as they continue to make videos to their new music.
Oliver Hazard
Oliver Hazard is a folk band based in Waterville, Ohio. The group consists of Michael Belazis (vocals, guitar), Griffin McCulloch (vocals, keys) and Devin East (vocals, guitar). The band was formed in 2017 after front man Belazis came home for the holidays and won a local song contest with McCulloch and East. The group ended up recording their first album, “34 N. River,” in a local studio.
The name Oliver Hazard came from the U.S. Naval officer Oliver Hazard Perry who fought in the War of 1812 and has ties to northern Ohio where the band was formed. Many of Oliver Hazard’s music is inspired by the beauty of their midwestern roots. “Our messages are pretty simple,” Belazis said. “We are humans writing about the human experience. Our hope is that folks can find a way to relate, and perhaps see a little glimpse into the Midwest through our songs.”
Oliver Hazard’s most popular songs include “Wide Eyed Blue,” released in 2024 and “Dandelion,” released in 2019. Both feature wistful lyrics accompanied by prominent banjo and acoustic guitar.
Ogi
Ogi Ifediora, who goes simply by Ogi, is a Nigerian American R&B singer from Madison Wisconsin. She graduated from Northwestern in 2019 where she was part of the group THUNK acapella.
Ogi, during her senior year of college, posted a video of her singing “Alright” by PJ Morton. This led to her continuing to post cover until she got her first record deal with ARTium in 2021. In 2022, she released her first EP “Monologues,” combining complex harmonies, hymns from her Nigerian roots and jazz. Since the release of this EP, she has opened for performers such as The Marias, Mahalia, Snoh Aalegra and Paramore. She also debuted her lead single “I Got It” from “Monologues” at the Black Entertainment Televisions Awards in 2022.
MGNA Crrrta
MGNA Crrrta is an electronic pop duo based in New York City. Members Farheen Khan and Ginger Scott focus on creating Electronic Dance Music with heavy influence from 2010’s pop. The group amassed a following in 2022 with their first EP “The American Experiment.” In 2022, they also released the EP “Constitution 2” and the mixtape “New Jersey.” MGNA Crrrta’s music is described as bringing “euphoric unseriousness” to their songs. Their latest song, “Filthy,” was released in December 2024.