Stanford Concert Network (SCN) announced Tuesday that Doechii will headline this year’s Frost Music and Arts Festival, the University’s biggest annual music event. Fresh off her win for Best Rap Album at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, Doechii has solidified herself as one of the most dynamic voices in hip-hop today.
The Frost Music and Arts Festival, or Frost Fest, will take place on April 12 at Frost Amphitheater. Last year, SCN brought Blxst, Umi and Alemeda for the annual festival.
This selection of Frost’s headliner signals a bold, forward-thinking choice — one that reflects the festival’s growing reputation for “bringing up and coming shining talent to Stanford,” according to Johan Sotelo ’25, a member of SCN’s executive leadership team.
Another leadership member, Chaélyn Anderson ’25, called the line-up “unprecedented,” and predicted this year’s show may be the best SCN has ever put on. Along with Doechii, SCN booked multiple openers, including Zack Fox, a DJ, comedian and rapper most known for his role as Tariq on “Abbott Elementary.”
“The energy is going to be insane,” executive team member Carmel Limcaoco ’25 said.
The process of selecting and booking artists for Frost Fest started shortly before the academic year began. The executive director leadership team — Limcaoco, Anderson, Sotelo and Naima Patel ’25 — was selected in late spring of 2024.
Many on the team know the industry and have experience with SCN’s inner workings, making it easier for them to reach out to artist teams, send out contracts and wade through the complexities of the booking process.
“In the past, [SCN] started planning really late, and that had consequences in the end. But we started pretty early this year,” Sotelo said.
One of the major decisions made early on was to limit ticket access to Stanford affiliates only, according to Sotelo. This decision stemmed from the artist radius clause, which requires artists to maintain exclusivity within a certain area to prevent overexposure in nearby venues.
Sotelo also said that they decided to limit access “because it was going to open up the opportunity for more artists.”
Limcaoco added: “I know from previous years, people wanted bigger mainstream artists, and we definitely felt that as well. We just kind of want to get the excitement up on campus.”
Limiting ticket access to Stanford affiliates allowed SCN to target specific groups like graduate students, according to Anderson. However, Sotelo said there was an understanding that without publicly sold tickets, there would be less revenue generated for future shows.
When SCN first reached out to Doechii and her team last year, she had around 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Though the rapper was already gaining momentum, she wasn’t yet at the level she is today, with 25 million monthly listeners. SCN has historically been known for booking up-and-coming artists with potential, including previous acts like Kali Uchis, Victoria Monet and Aminé. This track record helped them establish credibility and trust with Doechii’s team, according to Sotelo.
What set Doechii apart to SCN wasn’t just her success, but her ability to offer something fresh and exciting to the festival, according to Anderson. Patel shared that the overall process of working with her was “magical.”
The directors also ensured they took student input seriously — whether through social media platforms like Fizz or by gauging word-of-mouth feedback across campus — to make sure they selected an artist who would resonate with the student body. Tickets will be available through the Frost website, with presale running from Feb. 12 at 10 a.m. to Feb. 13 at 10 p.m., and general sale starting Feb. 14 at 10 a.m.
