It was “goin’ down” as hip-hop artist Yung Joc performed at the Holmes Student Center Thursday night.

Jasiel Robinson, (Yung Joc) known for his popular songs including “It’s Goin’ Down” and “I Know You See It” performed a free concert in an effort to help NIU students cope with the aftermath of the Feb. 14 shootings.

“Anytime I can give back, I will,” said Yung Joc.

The concert, which started significantly late, was well worth the wait.

The artist performed songs from his upcoming album as well current chart-toppers such as Usher’s “Love in This Club” to a packed crowd of about 200 students.

The concert was a joint effort from various groups on campus including the Black Student Union, NAACP and Night Crawlers Community Organization (NCCO).

“We wanted 2008 to be remembered by more than just the shooting,” said NCCO representative Kevin Smith.

Although the concert was free, one would not have known that from the quality of the performance.

Simply put, the concert was phenomenal.

Even a casual rap music listener like myself could enjoy Yung Joc’s catchy rhythms and contagious beats.

Furthermore, unlike many contemporary hip-hop artists, Yung Joc said he tries to avoid performing songs about cars, money and sex.

“I try to stay away from that in my music,” Yung Joc said.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that many of his songs were relatively clean in comparison with many of the other rappers that flood current airwaves.

The concert was not without its flaws: The performance started over an hour late and suffered from technical difficulties at the beginning of the performance.

Yung Joc made the most of the situation by interacting with the crowd to kill time.

Overall, even with the delays, the concert was spectacular.

The fact that a multi-platinum rapper would perform at NIU, for free, made the performance well worth the wait.