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Several artists scheduled to perform at this weekend’s Rolling Loud music festival at New York City’s Citi Field have been removed from the lineup after the New York City Police Department sent a letter to festival organizers requesting their removal, as The New York Times’ Joe Coscarelli reports. Casanova, Pop Smoke, Sheff G, Don Q, and 22GZ were named in the letter, dated October 9, which saw the NYPD cite “public safety concerns” stemming from the artists’ alleged affiliations with “recent acts of violence citywide.”
https://twitter.com/joecoscarelli/status/1183072242009362433
While Rolling Loud has yet to issue a statement, Casanova and Don Q have both taken to their Instagram pages to announce they will no longer be performing at the festival. Casanova called it “unfair and unfortunate” that his legal record “continues to stigmatize me and my career as a recording artist.” Don Q stated that he has “never been in any gang activities” and called his cancellation the result of “misinformation.”
Meanwhile, festival founder Tariq Cherif has addressed the situation on Twitter. “I can’t speak on this much but I want everyone to know that we are still paying all of those artists full booking fees AND sending them offers for future Rolling Louds in other cities,” the tweet reads.
Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Rolling Loud and the NYPD for further comment.