Chief Keef sent his hologram to perform in Hammond, Indiana, on Saturday night – but police shut down the show just moments after it started.

The rapper’s team had been teasing an appearance in Chicago that night, but as showtime approached he revealed on Instagram that the performance would take place over the Illinois border at Wolf Lake in Hammond.

Malcolm Jones, a promoter for Craze Fest, said the police had no cause to shut down the show. “No one ever gave me a reason why they didn’t want the hologram to appear,” he told the New York Times. “They didn’t have a real reason. They believed that it would start trouble, but the first thing Chief Keef said via hologram was: ‘Chicago, we need to stop the violence. Let our kids live.’”

Keef had billed the performance as a “Stop the Killing” benefit concert to raise money for shooting victims, but chose not to appear in Hammond in the flesh as he has warrants for his arrest stemming from two child support cases.

His surprise appearance at Craze Fest came after a series of cancelled hologram performances. Last weekend, a Chicago theater cancelled a similar hologram show after representatives for Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office deemed the rapper “an unacceptable role model,” whose music “promotes violence”, adding that even his presence via hologram “posed a significant public safety risk.”

Thomas M. McDermott Jr., the mayor of Hammond, said his office became aware of the surprise performance, through social media.

“I know nothing about Chief Keef,” said Mayor McDermott. “All I’d heard was he has a lot of songs about gangs and shooting people — a history that’s anti-cop, pro-gang and pro-drug use. He’s been basically outlawed in Chicago, and we’re not going to let you circumvent Mayor Emanuel by going next door.”

“It’s not like we’re anti-rap,” he added. “It’s just this specific case. Gang violence in Chicago is the reality right now, and I’m not going to invite someone that might be a threat to public safety.”

Latest

Latest



		
	
Share Tweet