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Artist News Gigs & Festivals
MIA dropped from Afropunk London line-up
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 18 July 2016
The London edition of the Afropunk festival has announced that MIA will now not headline the event, despite organisers last month resisting pressure to drop her from the line-up.
As previously reported, comments about the Black Lives Matter movement made by MIA in an interview with the Evening Standard sparked controversy earlier this year. The musician suggested that she would pull out of the festival in a tweet last month, though this was followed by a statement from the festival itself saying that her set would still go ahead.
“To us, the fact that MIA’s comments sparked dialogue about a global view of the Black struggle is not a failing”, said organisers at the time. “The debate is healthy and as people who have long been silenced, we refuse to participate in silencing of other voices”.
However, in a new statement last week, they said: “We are excited and honoured to do our first Afropunk Festival in London and want to do it right. After discussing the situation with the artist and the community, a decision was agreed upon by all involved that MIA will no longer headline Afropunk London”.
A replacement is due to be announced tomorrow, along with the next wave of acts on the line-up. The event itself will take place on 24 Sep at Alexandra Palace.
