Rapper M.I.A. has announced she is no longer performing at London’s Afropunk fest after attendees condemned the alternative Black cultural concert series for allowing her to headline. The 40-year-old star tweeted about the change June 20, saying she’s been told to “stay in my lane.”
https://twitter.com/MIAuniverse/status/744964018239078400
She hinted at dropping out from the lineup a day earlier, saying she’ll make the move because it “saves the cause and lives.”
https://twitter.com/MIAuniverse/status/744610674781859840
This comes nearly a week after potential concert-goers expressed their disappointment in Afropunk for allowing M.I.A. to perform after her comments in April criticized the Black Lives Matter movement.
“It’s interesting that in America the problem you’re allowed to talk about is Black Lives Matter,” she told the Evening Standard. “It’s not a new thing to me — it’s what Lauryn Hill was saying in the 1990s or Public Enemy in the 1980s. Is Beyoncé or Kendrick Lamar going to say Muslim Lives Matter? Or Syrian Lives Matter? Or this kid in Pakistan matters? That’s a more interesting question. And you cannot ask it on a song that’s on Apple, you cannot ask it on an American TV program, you cannot create that tag on Twitter, Michelle Obama is not going to hump you back.”
She later clarified those comments on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/miauniverse/status/723079132683350016
But that did not stop fans from bringing up her original statement regarding Afropunk. Now that M.I.A. reportedly won’t perform, fans seem pleased about the announcement.
User @beezy4beezy excitedly applauded the change in GIF form.
byeeee! 👌🏾😊😊😊 pic.twitter.com/cBGF5mOYZU
— YórubaTheDinasour (@beezy4beezy) June 19, 2016
Another user encouraged the star to drop out before Black Twitter came for her.
https://twitter.com/kfctwixsqueals/status/744658123370172416
And user @Goose thought M.I.A. not headlining was a good idea.
Sounds like you are doing the right thing, good on ya!
— Goose (@nGoose1) June 19, 2016
However, equally controversial rapper Azealia Banks defended the UK rapper in a lengthy Instagram post on June 19, demanding others to “leave M.I.A. the f— alone.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BG2kFQVH1X5/?taken-by=azealiabanks
As of this posting, M.I.A. is still listed as a performer on Afropunk’s website. The festival will be held Sept. 24 at London’s Alexandria Palace.
