ODU’s Chartway Arena is set to host $uicideboy$ on Sept. 20, just six months after a staffing shortage led to their cancellation of Tyler, The Creator’s “Call Me If You Get Lost” Tour.

Grief struck Norfolk’s rap fans on Mar. 3 when Tyler Okonma, professionally known as Tyler, The Creator, tweeted that his Norfolk show was canceled due to “local staffing shortages.” 

“SORRY, SUCKS, I’LL MAKE IT UP,” the rapper/producer tweeted. “TRIED EVERY OPTION WE COULD BUT NO LUCK. IM A BITCH. HEART EMOJI.”

By May 3, ODU would reset the stage for nu metal group Limp Bizkit, though a last-minute venue change pushed fans to the NorVa instead, once again detracting from Chartway’s potential as a magnetic spot for prominent artists to perform in 2022. 

With over nine million monthly listeners on Spotify and 2.3 million followers on Instagram, Scott Arceneaux Jr. and Aristos Petrou, famously known as $uicideboy$, are scheduled to drop by Norfolk on their “Grey Day” Tour. 

Ski Mask The Slump God, $not, Code Orange, and Maxo Kream will open. 

While Chartway Arena has hosted world-famous performers like Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Michael Bublé, Imagine Dragons, Green Day, and even Carrie Underwood, no one of such caliber has played the venue since it was still called the Ted Constant Convocation Center.

Though 2020 saw Chartway Arena ranked as #2 in the U.S. “for venues of its size on a college campus and #10 overall for its size,” the question still remains: will $uicideboy$ actually perform on Sept. 20, or will local fans suffer yet another disappointing cancellation? More pressing, is Chartway Arena losing its luster as a highly esteemed Virginia venue?