Grammy award-winning rapper Kid Cudi has dropped singer-songwriter M.I.A. from his Rebel Ragers tour over “offensive remarks” which left his fanbase “upset”. Videos online show the British star being booed after suggesting she was unable to perform her song Illygal, about an undocumented migrant, because it could apply to members of the crowd.
Writing on Instagram, Kid Cudi said he’d been flooded with messages after the Paper Planes singer’s comments during a support slot at his show in Dallas, Texas.
In his statement, Kid Cudi said it was “very disappointing” and claimed he had explained to M.I.A.’s management that he “didn’t want anything offensive” prior to the tour.
Kid Cudi, real name Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi, also said he was led to believe that M.I.A.’s team had understood his request to avoid potentially divisive statements.
M.I.A., real name Mathangi Arulpragasam, was the warm-up act for Kid Cudi’s Rebel Ragers tour.
Footage from a 2 May performance shows the audience erupt into boos after the singer says: “I’ve been cancelled for many reasons. I never thought I would be canceled for being a brown Republican voter.”
She is also heard to say she can’t perform the song Illygal, “though some of you could be in the audience”.
In a follow-up post on X, she stated she was not able to vote in the US, despite describing herself as a Republican voter.
London-born singer M.I.A. began releasing music in 2003, and became a sensation thanks to her unconventional sound and discussion of political themes influenced by her upbringing as a child of Sri Lankan parents.
She reached major recognition with her 2008 song Paper Planes, which hit number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammys.
She was also nominated for an Oscar for “O… Saya”, from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack.
More recently, the star has courted criticism with her stances on certain topics.
She has been described as an anti-vaxxer after a post stating she would “take death” over a Covid-19 jab.
After pushback she said she was not against vaccines but did oppose profit-seeking pharmaceutical companies.
In 2024 she launched a clothing line including designs which claimed to protect wearers from Wi-Fi and 5G signals – although scientists have strongly rejected suggestions of any link with disease or poor health.
M.I.A. has also publicly supported President Donald Trump ahead of the elections.
After being fired from Kid Cudi’s tour, she posted on X to say she wrote Illygal “before you thought immigrant rights were cool”.
“I’ve has these battles myself without the help of millions of fans backing me,” she wrote.
“I don’t need this virtue signal era to all of a sudden erase an entire life I’ve led.”
By BBC News
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