Rick Ross swaggered onto the Rock the Dome stage as the reek of marijuana drifted from the hazy purple stage lights.

Wearing a leather jacket, beanie and gaudy chain, he addressed the crowd before his set began Thursday night.

‘If you’re f**king at Syracuse, you’re a f**king winner,’ he said to the throng of fans screaming his name.

He nonchalantly launched into ‘Hustle Hard,’ bumbling around the stage. The track ended with a sound clip of a gunshot and a voiceover reminding the audience that Ross was in Syracuse representing his record label Maybach Music.

‘It would have been really funny if Rick Ross stage dived,’ said Mike Leydon, a senior Spanish major. ‘He wasn’t bad, but not good either.’

Despite his lack of energy, Ross kept the crowd involved with a set list jam-packed with his most familiar hits. About 7,000 audience members cheered when he introduced singles like ‘Aston Martin Music.’

‘First and foremost Syracuse,’ Ross said, ‘this is a night we will all remember forever.’

Sweating profusely under the spotlight, he pulled off his jacket in favor of a plain black T-shirt before performing his verse from DJ Khaled’s ‘All I Do Is Win.’ The song ironically features Ludacris, who did not join his co-headliner onstage.

Ross’ disc jockey vied for a slice of the spotlight, encouraging the audience to shout ‘Rozay’ every time he hollered ‘Ricky.’ The constant chanting drove some students, like Leydon, crazy.

‘I don’t think I could have handled one more Rozay chant,’ Leydon said.

Ross closed out his set by running through the roster of Maybach Music’s rappers, drawing applause for mentioning artists like Wale and Meek Mill. Students craned their necks to see if any of Ross’ labelmates were waiting in the wings to make guest appearances, but it turned out to just be a tease.

‘I hope I see you all again next time,’ Ross said, walking offstage. ‘I love you all.’

The crowd immediately began to chant for an encore, but to no avail as the house lights rose and the stage crew set up for Ludacris.

During the intermission, University Union Concerts Director Kenny Consor mentioned details about Block Party. He revealed the show is slated for April 27.

‘UU did a great job selecting artists for this,’ said Alex Brooks, a sophomore public relations major. ‘But I’d definitely like to see some variety in upcoming concerts.’

Both the crowd in the bleachers and those in the pit in front of the stage called out ‘Luda’ until the rapper finally answered back.

‘That ain’t loud enough,’ he said from backstage. ‘I might as well take my a** home.’

The roar deafened, and not long after, Ludacris took the stage in a black vest and gold-rimmed shades. He weaved around the stage, working the crowd.

‘Ross was OK,’ Leydon said, ‘But Ludacris was so much better.’

Ludacris tested the audience members to prove themselves as real fans by frontloading his set with raps from his first few albums.

‘Man, I’ve been doing this for such a long time,’ Ludacris said. ‘We’re celebrating over a decade of platinum songs tonight.’

After introducing his partner DJ Infamous, Ludacris broke into a medley of songs in which he was featured, including ‘Yeah!’ by Usher and ‘Break Your Heart’ by Taio Cruz.

He then broke into a rapid-fire string of hits, ending with ‘Money Maker,’ a track the hip-hop superstar affectionately referred to as ‘the Grammy song.’

DJ Infamous gave Ludacris a brief rest with a quick DJ set, keeping the crowd on its feet with some cracks about the show’s timing.

‘If you’ve got class tomorrow and don’t care, make some noise!’ he laughed.

Ludacris seized the microphone after a few minutes, asking the stage technicians to dim the spotlight and for students to hold their cellphones and lighters aloft.

The Carrier Dome glowed as he dedicated ‘Blueberry Yum Yum’ to the smokers in the audience. Though his set’s time limit was approaching quickly, Ludacris was in no hurry to finish up.

‘I see someone in the back row sitting down like the show’s over. What the hell?’ asked Ludacris. ‘These students need to get their money’s worth and then some!’

After playing a couple of minutes longer, Ludacris made another remark to the enthusiastic crowd.

‘They told us we have five minutes left, but we’ll keep going until we get kicked out.’

He closed his set with ‘Move B*tch’ and walked offstage with a smile.

Rob Dekker, president of UU, thought the first-ever Rock the Dome was a success. He said he believes Rock the Dome will be a mainstay for the future.

‘I hope we can make some changes, make sure it doesn’t coincide with sorority recruitment and bring different kinds of artists here,’ he said. ‘But I was very happy with the show.’

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Published on February 5, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Erik: [email protected] | @therealvandyman