Instrumental hip-hop artist RJD2 will perform with rapper Talib Kweli Saturday in Patten Gym at 8 p.m., A&O Productions announced Tuesday.

Tickets are on sale for $5 at the Norris Box Office and are expected to sell out by the end of the week. Although more than 1,200 tickets went on sale Friday, A&O officers said only about 100 are still available.

"Ticket sales have been good, but they are not good enough to discourage people from buying them," said A&O President Brian Bockrath, a Weinberg senior.

Jack Spittell, a Weinberg junior and A&O talent buyer, said A&O offered RJD2 the gig because he has a "solid indie label for hip-hop."

An A&O talent buyer works with the artists to get them on campus.

In 2004, Talib Kweli and and RJD2 teamed up to record an EP, which is a short album, titled "You Are Not Alone." Having the two artists together on stage will make for an interesting show, Spittell said.

"They are both appealing on their own, and together they will make a great combination," he said.

RJD2 jumped into the hip-hop scene in 1998 as the deejay and producer of the Columbus, Ohio, group Megahertz. He later produced Megahertz debut single "Holier Than Thou."

RJD2 made his first formal appearance as a solo artist in a Definitive Jux Presents compilation, alongside other underground hip-hop artists. His big break came in 2002 with the release of his debut album, "Dead Ringer," which was named one of the best underground hip-hop releases of the year by Spin magazine.

"(Talib Kweli and RJD2) will make an awesome hip-hop show that will provide an amazing Saturday night for whoever goes," said Weinberg junior Ben Wolfert, another A&O talent buyer.

Communication sophomore Jessica Florendo said she is glad A&O is bringing RJD2 to perform on campus because she supports the messages "conscious emcees" like Talib Kweli and RJD2 promote.

"I absolutely support everything (these artists) represent," she said. "These crews bring up what resonates in urban youth culture, whereas (mainstream) rap fails to do all that."

--Allan Madrid

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