On April 15, Senior Communication Major—Samir Sajjad—hosted a ISPro Artist showcase at project1021 for his Senior Seminar Project at Saint Xavier University.
Sponsored by Insomniac Studios, the venue was marked as a ‘creative space’ to hold Sajjad’s concerts—and located at 1021 W 18th St in Chicago, from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
The music artist lineup featured these rappers: Richoapitt, Sonny Trill, Ayo200nz, Lamar Creation, Martell DB, and Keenan Davis.
After performing in front of a crowd, one of the rappers—with the stage name Ayo200nz—shared his love for showcasing his music and the overwhelming support he had for Sajjad.
“I love performing,” he said. “I’m using every performance as if I’m in an arena. Everybody was cool, and the event is cool. I had to do this for my boy, Samir, so it’s been a great time.”
The rapper added, “Can’t wait. Hopefully ISPro could put on some more shows for everybody.”
People participated in three raffle basket giveaways. Raffle tickets were sold for $3 for one, and $5 for two of them. The prizes included one hour of studio time, an artist development consultation session for an hour, and one coupon code for a free piece of merchandise from the ISPro online store.
Sajjad received praise for organizing this event fundraiser in the late evening, from many attendees and company sponsors.
Marlon King—the Owner of IsPro Academy—says Sajjad was 18 years old at the time when he sought out the company, and became an ISPro intern. King is ‘very’ proud of Sajjad and “…all of the things he’s accomplished.”
King also admires Sajjad’s ‘Stick-to-it’ attitude—especially when needing a back-up plan.
“We found out we had to make a change [in venues]…[and] there was never a time where he was like, ‘Oh, what are we gonna do?’ It was never that.”
He continued: “It was all, ‘What are we going to do now? Let’s call up all five of these spots.’ And, I think within 24 hours, we had another location.”
Brian Sykes—a 2014 SXU alum and General Manager of ISPro—stated that although Sajjad was ‘serious’ about learning music a few years ago, he kept ‘coming around’ because he was interested in event planning and organizing.
“It’s been a mentoring process,” Sykes said. “He’s most definitely been doing managing…it’s been an up and down thing, trying to find venues, but he’s done a great job.”
6D Network Entertainment—a non-profit—partnered with Insomniac Studios for Sajjad’s concert showcase. They were one of three table vendors who promoted their branding.
The organization’s co-founder, Shaunda Brooks-Green, was impressed with Sajjad’s work ethic—saying that he ‘embodies’ everything that their organization stands for.
“Samir has been just a light to see [for] such young entrepreneurs, you know, whether it’s for school or not,” stated Brooks-Green. “It brings hope to us as a non-profit, for fostering collaboration and support and everything with our audience.”
Kris Delk—a SXU Senior student—was ‘blown away’ at Sajjad’s ISPro Showcase, saying it was a ‘surprisingly’ good turnout. Sajjad had nearly 50 out of 80 people—at full capacity—come by to support him, these artists, and listen to their music.
Delk told Sajjad he’d come to the event because it would be “…a great stress reliever” from having to do “…a lot of studying” this Spring semester.
“He was really meticulous about how he put everything together, [and] honestly, it’s just great to see him and all of my other friends come together and, like, really relax after our week’s of work,” says Delk. He recognized that “…greater things are coming” for Sajjad and what he does with music.
Sajjad’s cousin, Alexios Razvi—who attended the event—couldn’t be happier for him. “Everything that he’s ever worked for is coming true,” Razvi emphasized, continuing, “He’s so gifted, he’s kind hearted, [and] he’s just, he’s off the chain!”
Sajjad presented his Senior Seminar Project on April 27 to highlight the ISPro event.
Sajjad thanks Sykes and King of Insomniac Studios for putting their ‘trust’ in him.
“I just kind of wanted to replicate what they did,…[and] seeing how far I came, I was really stressed about this going well, and I’m thankful because it did come out really, really well and the people are here joining,” he said. “It’s very, very, like, humbling.”
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