Lil B is coming to speak at UF on Feb. 18.
Lil B, the rapper known as “The Based God,” will come as part of the Reitz Union Grand Reopening Celebration Week. The event starts at 8:30 p.m. in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom. Reitz Union Board Entertainment is paying him $15,000 to speak.
Lil B will give an hour-long speech and do a 30-minute Q & A session, said Austin Brown, one of the directors of the Bands Committee for RUB entertainment. Only UF students can attend.
On Monday, students with a Gator 1 Card can pick up a wristband at the registration desk on the second floor of the Reitz Union. Distribution will start at 11 a.m. and end at 2 p.m. or when all 805 wristbands are claimed.
Students without a wristband can take unclaimed seats the day of the event.
RUB Entertainment has been planning to bring Lil B to UF since the beginning of the school year, Brown said.
“Lil B has done numerous talks and speaking engagements at different universities and has received a lot of positive feedback,” Brown said.
Brown said he hopes the rapper will speak about his thoughts on the presidential election and discuss his career as an independent musician.
Joseph Anid, a UF political science junior, said he was ecstatic when he heard Lil B was coming.
“I think people will leave the lecture thinking they haven’t seen anything quite like it,” the 21-year-old said.