AKA pulls out of Back To The City because the organisers refuse to make his return a big deal.
Rapper AKA has taken to social media to confirmed that he will no longer be a part of the Back To The City music festival amidst an ongoing disagreement with the event’s organisers.
In a lengthy statement posted to social media on Monday‚ AKA told fans that he would not be performing at the festival‚ despite being listed as one of the artists on the bill.
“I wanted the organisers to make a big deal about AKA returning at playing Back2TheCity this year,”
AKA‚ who last performed at the festival in 2011‚ says he met with the organisers a few weeks ago to express his desire to perform at the event‚ but only on condition that they promoted his return on the same level as they would promote their international headliners.
He says the decision to perform was not about money‚ and that despite the event not paying “very well‚” he would have performed “effectively for free” by putting his performance fee into the production elements of his show.
“This was all agreed upon by ourselves and the organisers. The line up was announced. Instead of what we had agreed upon‚ my name was confined to what I can only describe as a minor detail on the ‘flyer’”
“It wasn’t until I began seeing the level of promotion with regards to the “international” acts‚ that all my old feelings of doubt and mistrust resurfaced‚” he wrote.
AKA‚ who has in the past spoken about his refusal to play second fiddle to touring international acts‚ elaborated about what he brings to the table. “I consider myself an International act. I have the tours‚ awards‚ following and most importantly the live show and music to prove it. With all due respect to Elzhi‚ Jay Live‚ Skyzoo & Camp Lo‚ I will not allow an artist like myself to be reduced to a minor detail.”
AKA concluded the statement by saying he has no hard feelings towards the event but merely wants to highlight “how far we still have to go to change the mindset.”