MIA says she won't play Afropunk festival after Black Lives Matter comments

Rapper faced boycott of London event following comments made to the Evening Standard, saying ‘I’ve been told to stay in my lane’

MIA says she will no longer play her headline slot at the inaugural Afropunk festival in London. The news follows threats to boycott the event after the musician commented on the Black Lives Matter movement.

In an interview with the Evening Standard in April, MIA suggested that there is too much focus in the US on the Black Lives Matter movement, and that violence towards Muslim people is a neglected concern. She also called on Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar to highlight issues facing other groups, including Syrians. After the comments, some people attending the British strand of Afropunk – at Alexandra Palace on 24 September – threatened to boycott the festival unless she was removed from the bill.

“Sorry I’m not doin’ Afropunk,” MIA tweeted on 20 June. “I’ve been told to stay in my lane. Ha, there is no lane for 65 million refugees who’s lanes are blown up! #nolanes”

While the festival has yet to respond – there may be a contract that would make her sudden exit difficult – MIA has had support from Azealia Banks. In a post via Instagram, Banks – who recently apologised following her stream of racist and Islamophobic tweets against former One Direction member Zayn Malik – wrote:

Leave MIA the f–ck alone. You guys are idiots and have COMPLETELY missed the point of what she’s trying to tell you. THIS IS A BLACK PERSON. Sri Lankans/Indians are BLACK. U guys keep for getting that black is not something we share as an ethnicity it’s something we share as a GLOBAL STRUGGLE … the LIBERAL MEDIA has its d–ck so far down you sheeples throats that you can’t even understand what she’s saying. SHES TELLING YOU THAT HER PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING JUST AS OURS ARE. LEAVE MAYA THE F–CK ALONE AND LET HER DO HER PERFORMANCE. FOR F–CKS SAKE.

Afropunk festival was founded in New York in 2005. Its name comes from James Spooner’s 2003 documentary film, Afro-Punk, a seminal documentary spotlighting Black punks in the US.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaKWlqLake5FpaG9nmqq7cH6QaKSimV2orrq%2FjKyfnmWnpLu1ec%2BlmLJlkZu%2FsLzUp6JmnpWowarCwKVkm6SRmLhuuMivnKxlnZbBtbHRZpqopZ2au7W%2F