Post by dawyked on Aug 4, 2007 19:09:57 GMT 1
Global Hip Hop Fest Ends on Sour Note With Wyclef No Show
Published: 7/31/07 at 2:43 PM ET
Written By: Adam Gonshor
A few thousand people promised an appearance by Grammy-winning Wyclef Jean at a free outdoor hip-hop festival in Toronto went home disappointed Saturday night when the rapper didn't show up.
They weren't so much disappointed that Jean was a no-show. What irked them was that they were kept in the dark.
"We thought he'd come on at the end. But after a few artists were on the stage for an hour, right at the end, they said Jean couldn't make it," Matt Jenkins of Toronto wrote in an email to andPOP.
Jean was supposed to appear at the Global Hip Hop Festival at Harbourfront to showcase artists from his label, Sak Pase Records.
After members of his label performed for an hour, one of them finally told the crowd that Jean wouldn't be appearing because of problems at the border.
Turns out, organizers had already known Jean wouldn't be attending and he didn't have any border problems. He couldn't have had border problems – he was on the other side of the world.
"Wyclef was asked to perform overseas with international superstar T.I.P. (T.I.) on that same weekend," reads a statement from YB Entertainment Group, which had planned the Wyclef apeparance. "He recently voiced a track in collaboration for T.I.P album and the track toke [sic] off on the charts, so we were forced to reschedule the event as per request of [the] record label."
A concert featuring Wyclef planned for the night before in Montreal was also cancelled.
"Had they said that at the beginning, that would be understandable, problems happen," Jenkins said. "But they didn't tell us he wasn't coming until the very end. That was bush league. We all left disappointed because we had no idea he wasn't going to show up."
Jean is no stranger to Toronto. Last August, he performed with Shakira at the Air Canada Centre. The next month, he was in town for the Film Festival and performed at an after-party for his film, Ghosts of Cite Soleil. In November, he performed at a secret show to launch Playstation 3.
Published: 7/31/07 at 2:43 PM ET
Written By: Adam Gonshor
A few thousand people promised an appearance by Grammy-winning Wyclef Jean at a free outdoor hip-hop festival in Toronto went home disappointed Saturday night when the rapper didn't show up.
They weren't so much disappointed that Jean was a no-show. What irked them was that they were kept in the dark.
"We thought he'd come on at the end. But after a few artists were on the stage for an hour, right at the end, they said Jean couldn't make it," Matt Jenkins of Toronto wrote in an email to andPOP.
Jean was supposed to appear at the Global Hip Hop Festival at Harbourfront to showcase artists from his label, Sak Pase Records.
After members of his label performed for an hour, one of them finally told the crowd that Jean wouldn't be appearing because of problems at the border.
Turns out, organizers had already known Jean wouldn't be attending and he didn't have any border problems. He couldn't have had border problems – he was on the other side of the world.
"Wyclef was asked to perform overseas with international superstar T.I.P. (T.I.) on that same weekend," reads a statement from YB Entertainment Group, which had planned the Wyclef apeparance. "He recently voiced a track in collaboration for T.I.P album and the track toke [sic] off on the charts, so we were forced to reschedule the event as per request of [the] record label."
A concert featuring Wyclef planned for the night before in Montreal was also cancelled.
"Had they said that at the beginning, that would be understandable, problems happen," Jenkins said. "But they didn't tell us he wasn't coming until the very end. That was bush league. We all left disappointed because we had no idea he wasn't going to show up."
Jean is no stranger to Toronto. Last August, he performed with Shakira at the Air Canada Centre. The next month, he was in town for the Film Festival and performed at an after-party for his film, Ghosts of Cite Soleil. In November, he performed at a secret show to launch Playstation 3.
