We asked Movin’ On emcee, Jason Hu, what it takes because this could be you next year

It’s second semester and Penn State students are already losing their sanity and patience with the arrival of THON, midterms and more. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, though: Movin’ On is in just a few, short months. The Tab sat down with one of the Movin’ On emcees, Jason Hu, to learn more about our favorite festival and what it takes to be an emcee.

Tell us a little about yourself.

Jason: I’m a senior marketing major from outside of Philly, aka North Wales, PA. Here at Penn State I’m involved in a lot. The two clubs I’m really involved in are SCNO, Students Consulting for NonProfits as well as RAM Squad, which is a hip hop dance organization.

Why did you want to audition to be a Movin’ On emcee?

Two weeks before the deadline I had this date auction that my friend Harnoor wanted me to emcee with him. I was like “Sure, why not? Can’t hurt, could be really fun.” And lo and behold, it was probably one of the best things I’ve done here at Penn State. And after that, I pretty much saw that they were holding auditions for Movin’ On, and I was like, Hey can’t really hurt to try out, so I did it, and I got it and that’s it.

What was the hardest part of it?

The hardest part was probably just to be professional, but also be myself and be fun – to make sure that I was really serious about this position but also someone they could trust with rallying thousands of Penn State students.

What was your reaction when you found out you’d been selected?

I found out when I was in the HUB and I was kind of quivering a little bit. I was really happy, because honestly, I didn’t really expect it, you know? I kind of looked at the other candidates that I was competing against, and all of them seemed pretty qualified, pretty fun, I looked at all their social media profiles. When I found out, I was like hey, this is awesome, I’m so happy.

What are you most excited about, in terms of being an emcee?

Just to be on stage! You know, I have a really great co-host, and I’m just really excited to take the stage with her, really feel Penn State’s energy at the end of the year event.

Beyond just being onstage, what else do you get to do as an emcee?

Well, first I just wanna preface this, I’m not just emceeing Movin’ On, I’m also emceeing Battle of the Bands, that’s another kind of thing that they have. They’re very interconnected, so I’ll be doing the Battle of the Bands, and then, that performer who wins BofB will also be performing at Movin’ On. To be honest… I’m not really sure. We’re just starting to kind of get in the groove of things, so nothing has really happened too much, yet. We’ll see. I’m excited for whatever is to come, though!

The lineup isn’t out yet, is it?

No, it comes like a month before the actual concert.

Who are you hoping to see? What’s your dream person or group?

They asked me that during the interview. I’d love to see Chance the Rapper. He’s definitely really expensive, but for someone that big, he’s not as expensive as I think people might assume, because he’s not connected to any label, he’s his own man. I would love to see DJ Khaled. He’s very expensive and I… I don’t know how people would feel about DJ Khaled. I feel like the DJ Khaled phase has fazed a lot of people, has passed a lot of people, but I’m still within that phase… It’s always a hard question. During the interview I really struggled with it, actually. I honestly would just love to see J Cole and Kendrick Lamar, I would just love to see really solid rappers come through.

Who was your favorite performer last year?

So I wasn’t there for the whole thing. I really liked the final act, Walk the Moon, thought they were really rad. The weather was kinda shitty, but it was definitely really fun to be part of it.

 

 

Some people are really scared of being in front of a giant crowd like this, what makes you willing to take this on?

For me, I think, I just wanna have more experiences. I’m here for another final semester, and I just wanna take everything in and try new things and do new things, and I’ve never spoke, much less emceed a crowd of thousands of people. It’s definitely nerve-wracking and I think me and Alisa, we’re both very nervous. We’re trying to figure out who’s gonna take the lead, ‘cause within co-hosts, you’re always gonna have someone who’s kind of the leader amongst you two. But yeah, I wanna experience new things, and I definitely think this is probably the coolest thing you can be a part of.

What do you have to say to anyone who’s considering auditioning for emcee next year but isn’t sure if they wanna take the plunge?

I mean, what do you have to lose, really? My co-emcee’s a freshman, you know what I mean? I was talking to her and she’s like “I didn’t think I was gonna get this.” Me, myself, I didn’t think I was gonna get this. But we did. And I think a lot of people underestimated themselves, and underestimate their ability to really shine. So take a risk. If it doesn’t happen, there’s so many other events that happen around Penn State. So. let’s say you are nervous. Get involved, do smaller emcee gigs, see if it’s something that is right for you, and something that you’ll have fun doing, and then, if that’s the case, go for it.

@mixed_hues