By Ben Lauren PZ ‘25

Emerging from a blue haze donning a furry bear hat, the reverb-cranked voice of genre-bending artist Ehirobo echoed from the stage to the clock tower as he began the final set of Kohoutek 2023.

Ehiorobo, full name Ehiorobo Carlos Igiehon, is a musician originating from Manalapan, New Jersey, and now based in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. According to his website, Ehiorobo defines himself as “equal parts soulful, poignant and zany.”

He brought this energy almost immediately through his first song “Autobahn.” The track, which has amassed over 100,000 Spotify streams in two months, got the Kohoutek crowd jumping within seconds.

Despite his performance coming nearly five hours into the festival, the Pitzer and 5C audience was as raucous as ever responding incredibly well to Ehiorobos’s unique brand of sound. Ehiorobos’s website defines his style as, “chameleonic, expansive sound [that] traverses the space between pop, experimental r&b/soul, rap/hip-hop, electronic, afro-jazz, alternative rock and more.”

Understanding the uniqueness of his work, Ehiorobo was pleased by the crowd’s reception of his music.

“Honestly, they seemed pretty open,” Ehiorobo said. “I play a lot of different types of music in my set … It was fun. I was grooving. Hopefully it was chill for other people too.”

Ehiorobo’s set provided the upbeat, yet soothing performance needed to end Kohoutek’s resurgence on a bang. After four years of waiting, Pitzer’s festival is back in form, led by student Zoe Brin. Recognizing the significance of his role as the night’s closer, Ehiorobo had nothing but the best to say.

“I know Kohoutek is a pretty historical situation at this college,” Ehiorobo said. “This is the first one back in a while. That’s pretty beautiful. I’m happy to be a part of that history. People seemed to have a great time; they were all smiles.”