Weekends start on Thursday at Cornell. The underclassmen make their way off campus, sneak into parties or packed bars, get wasted and then stumble their way back into dorms screaming out random obscenities at 3:00 a.m. when others are trying to sleep.

This Thursday, do things a little differently.

Cover Africa is hosting a live concert to raise money to fight malaria. The line-up includes Cornell student bands One Trick Pony, Elsa and the awesomeAwesomes and Hype City Kings and the Ithaca rapper Money Mars — promising a diverse set to liven up your night.

The concert will be the third of its type for Hype City Kings emcee Eric Fisher, who told the Sun that, “It’s always great. [A] good venue” — the Nines — “[a] good cause” — the war for malaria prevention in Humijbre, Ghana — and “[a] good concept” — the idea that an event should be a fun night out with live music and less like a stereotypical charity event.

John Lee (not me but the organizer of the event) notes that unlike the other clubs that merely station themselves on Ho Plaza to quarter card, Cover Africa does things differently and more creatively. “Cover Africa has had a strong tradition of musical performances tied with its events,” he stated in an email. “We feel that tying our message and cause to music produced by the students represents an effective and powerful means to raise awareness. The event is not only a fundraising event, but an opportunity to get the Cornell student body familiar with the cause.”

But Fisher acknowledges that there are other causes that the event will contribute to: “A) You have this benefit for a cause. Immediately you walk in there: $5 at the door for your admission fee. You’ve already done something there. B) An underlying piece is that not only are [attending students] helping out their cause, but they’re also helping us out — the musicians.”

Fisher produces his music under the name Hype City Kings with one of his friends from back home. His oeuvre primarily consists of hip-hop but he frequently switches it up with verses laid over classical rock by artists like The Who. With a song called “I Love You,” whose lyrics include “Toking on some hash, she was puttin’ it in the mouth” and “But she’s ugly naked, so I guess I’ll have to fake it,” you know Fisher means it when he says his set is going to be entertaining, especially near the stage.

“If you’re up front, it’s going to get crazy. It’s more fun being on front, but that’s just the approach to life,” Fisher says. Hype City Kings is expected the close the show, but if you’d like a preview of their mix-tapes and verses, hypecitykings.com offers all three of their records for free.

Despite all this original local music, Cornell students don’t seem to care very much. One of the weaker attributes of Cornell is its lack of a following for local bands. Fisher says, “A lot of schools have great followings because they feed it and they give their people something to perform for at a concert” — rare to see here at Cornell.

But it’s not like all Ithacans are apathetic toward local music: “Ithaca College gets a following, but we’re twice the size. I’d like to think we have some people that are capable of doing the same. There’s just not the support right now.” Lee regrets that “the music scene at Cornell is very separated and lacks a clear body.”

So be that change tonight. Leave the frat parties for another weekend. Make your way off campus but steer away from the Collegetown parties with their pre-recorded mainstream music towards the Nines (at 9:45 p.m.) for a live concert full of fun, music and entertainment.When you stumble back into your dorms, scream out the lyrics so the rest of the sleeping students can hear what Cornell student bands have to offer. Maybe then, the community will begin to build.

As Fisher simply puts it: “It’s gonna be entertaining, and it’s a good cause, damnit.”