The aftereffects of the shooting during a T.I. show at Irving Plaza that claimed the life of a bodyguard are very tangible. First, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton went on a rant in which he called rappers “basically thugs” and “so-called artists” that drew the ire of pundits everywhere, and seemed to put off Mayor de Blasio. Yesterday, Joey Bada$$ announced on Twitter that his scheduled show at Irving Plaza was cancelled by the NYPD, and this morning more cancellations have been announced.
Aside from Hot 97’s Summer Jam and Governors Ball, both of which are taking place this weekend, there were a considerable amount of rap shows set to take places over the next few days. Vince Staples was set to perform at Irving Plaza Saturday night, while YG‘s promo tour for Still Brazy was scheduled to hit Gramercy Theater Monday evening. In addition, Pittsburgh emcee Mac Miller was set to hit the Irving Plaza stage tomorrow night. Live Nation has officially cancelled all three of those shows, and according to a Rolling Stone report, a rep for the concert and event company admitted that the cancellations were directly correlated to last week’s shooting. “In light of last week’s tragic event, we are acting with an overabundance of caution and coordinating a going forward strategy with the New York Police Department that may also include a curfew.”
It’ll be interesting to see how Live Nation and the NYPD handle booking rap shows at these venues and venues like them going forward. As of right now, they appear to still be very wary of the threat of violence, which is unfortunate for fans.
