Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Culture
CultureEntertainmentMusic

M.I.A. Reportedly Drops Out of Afropunk’s London Show, Azealia Banks Tells Fans to ‘Leave Her Alone’

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: CommentsComments (2)
Instagram

Instagram

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.

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.

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.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top