Kid Cudi is making it clear that protecting his fans’ experience comes before any tour lineup.
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The rapper has officially removed M.I.A. from the Rebel Ragers Tour following a series of political outbursts that left his audience feeling targeted. The situation came to a head during a Saturday night performance at the Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas, where M.I.A. stopped the music to air out her personal views, leading to immediate backlash from the crowd.
The “Paper Planes” artist sparked the controversy by discussing her shift toward right-wing politics and making assumptions about the legal status of people in the audience.
“I’ve been canceled for many reasons. I never thought I would be canceled for being a brown Republican voter,” she stated. She followed that by saying, “I can’t do ‘Illegal,’ though some of you could be in the audience.” As video of the moment circulated, fans pressured Cudi to address the toxic environment.
Cudi quickly announced her dismissal, noting that he had established clear boundaries before the tour began.
“TOUR UPDATE: M.I.A is no longer on this tour. I told my management to send a notice to her team before we started tour that I didn’t want anything offensive at my shows, cuz I already knew what time it was, and I was assured things were understood. After the last couple shows, I’ve been flooded with messages from fans that were upset by her rants. This, to me, is very disappointing, and I wont have someone on my tour making offensive remarks that upsets my fanbase. Thank you for understanding. Rager.”
M.I.A. responded to the firing by doubling down on her comments and accusing her critics of “gaslighting.” She defended her track record of speaking on immigrant rights long before it was a mainstream trend.
“I wrote ‘Illygal’ on the Maya LP a song from 2010,” she wrote. “I started this intro to the song with the statement saying I’m illygal, and I said my team hasn’t gotten visas yet. Then played a song that had lyrics saying ‘f**k the law,’ which I still believe, if the law is unjust f**k it. Do not gas light my words. That is the work of Satan. I wrote ‘Borders’ and ‘Illygal’ and ‘Paper Planes’ before you thought immigrant rights were cool. I’ve had these battles myself without the help of millions of fans backing me.”
Despite her defense, Cudi is moving forward with the tour without her. He is prioritizing the safety and comfort of his fanbase over maintaining the original schedule.
