The Bryce Jordan Center will be riding 'wit' Nelly and hopes for a concert that will be "#1."

The popular rap artist will take the stage with special guest the St. Lunatics at 8 tonight in order to spread some Country Grammar to the Penn State community.

This is a risky endeavor for The Bryce Jordan Center, said Bernie Punt, director of marketing and sales at the BJC.

"Our building used to be too big for hip-hop and rap performances," Punt said.

However, because this will be such a profitable concert, the BJC will be 'resized' to make it feel like a smaller venue in order to satisfy the needs of a rap performance.

And the response has been overwhelming even though Nelly hasn't put out an album in over a year, Punt said. Although they "got word" that Nelly would be coming out with new stuff soon, it wouldn't be out before the show date.

However, a survey showed that there was still a demand for this rap artist to come and entertain the Penn State community.

"But the feedback says that now the time is right (for this type of concert)," he added.

It's about time that hip-hop has come to the BJC, Punt said. "This is good news for hip-hop and rap fans. We're showing this market can support the genre."

In fact, Punt said they want to bring in more of these artists.

"We want to bring them in so we're being aggressive with a smaller venue set-up," he said.

It's harder for the BJC to attract some types of acts because it's hard for any act to sell out when there are 15,000 seats in the center. Most bands touring these days look specifically to perform in smaller venues so they can play to a full house. The BJC hopes that by creating a smaller venue setting for certain shows more bands will want to play -- especially hip-hop, Punt said.

"The place is going to look great and Nelly will be playing to a full house and an enthusiastic crowd," Punt said.

Overall, Punt said he expects the concert to be a major success.

But for those who want to see Nelly tonight and don't have tickets may be disappointed since the show is very close to being sold out. As of Wednesday there were less than 300 tickets left for sale. Tickets are $29.50.

But this concert shows that State College can support a more urban market, Punt said.

A local band may be opening at Nelly's request, but at time of print the opening act had yet to be decided, Punt said.