INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

M.I.A. Booted From Afropunk Festival Lineup For Criticizing Kendrick Lamar And Beyonce For Black Lives Matter Involvement

By Shaunee Flowers
Published on: 14:05 PST, Jul 16, 2016

M.I.A. was forced to bow out of the Afropunk Festival in London after comments that she made about Black Lives Matter made waves. The controversial rapper spoke out back in April and criticized Kendrick Lamar and Beyonce for their support of the new civil rights movement.

As the highly-anticipated festival started to get closer, Entertainment Weekly reported that M.I.A.’s comments about Black Lives Matter were brought back up and angered quite a few fans. Many outlets are referring to the British rapper as “one of the bad girls,” but her BLM comments have caused a huge stir and go against what most people involved with Afropunk would feel was acceptable.

It was in April of 2016, during an interview with the Evening Standard, M.I.A. said the following comments.

“It’s interesting that in America the problem you’re allowed to talk about is Black Lives Matter. 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.”

When M.I.A. was announced as the headliner at Afropunk, Twitter turned into a Black Lives Matter protest as many questioned why she would even be on the tour considering her criticism earlier in the year. Many fans turned on the “Paper Planes” rapper and called her anti-BLM.

It didn’t help matters that M.I.A. isn’t black. The outspoken rapper was born in the U.K. but has Sri Lankan roots. The Afropunk Festival was criticized simply for having M.I.A. as the main act for the festival and her controversial comments about Black Lives Matter, whether misconstrued or not, did not help her case at all.

M.I.A. has tried to explain what she meant by the comments and it sounds like she didn’t mean to be anti-Black Lives Matter at all. Instead, the point the British rapper was trying to make was that there are other worthy causes and many that she supports herself such as the plight of Syrian refugees. The issue that many have taken with M.I.A.’s comments stems from common American sentiment that seems aimed at derailing the BLM movement with proclamations that all lives matter or whatever other group of the moment wants to push back.

“Sorry I’m not doing Afropunk. I’ve been told to stay in my lane,” M.I.A. tweeted in June. It seems the controversial rapper already knew that the bad reaction meant she wouldn’t be performing at the festival. As a matter of fact, the rapper’s comments may impact ticket sales for her shows for some time now.

Afropunk released a statement regarding the decision to drop M.I.A. as their headliner. In an Instagram notice, festival organizers claimed that the decision to pull M.I.A. from the lineup was mutual. Their replacement and a few other additions will be announced on July 19.

The Afropunk Festival has been held in New York City every year since 2005. This year the festival will be held in London instead. A new headliner is expected to be named later this month and the festival runs in September.

M.I.A. has also responded, via Twitter, with a message to her fans. She wrote, “If you ask how I’m doing, I’m doing fine.”

Who do you think should replace M.I.A. for the Afropunk Festival in London? Tell us if you think the rapper should have been removed from the lineup for her statement about Black Lives Matter in the comments section below.

[Photo by Ben A. Punchie/Getty Images]

Share this article: M.I.A. Booted From Afropunk Festival Lineup For Criticizing Kendrick Lamar And Beyonce For Black Lives Matter Involvement
Black Lives Matter
More from Inquisitr