Afropunk officially drops M.I.A. from London lineup

A new headliner will be announced soon.

Afropunk organizers received a ton of backlash when it was announced that M.I.A. was one of the headliners of the inaugural London festival. Her previous dismissive comments about Black Lives Matter made the London-via-Sri Lanka artist a controversial addition to the lineup. She eventually took to Twitter to defend her politics and to personally back out of the festival.

After her representation told media outlets she would still perform, Afropunk released a statement saying she was still welcome on their stage: “This controversy has opened the door for these critical conversations that need to make us all better informed…The debate is healthy and as people who have long been silenced, we refuse to participate in silence of other voices.”

Today, the organizers have reversed their decision to keep M.I.A. as a headliner. They’ve released a statement that says: “A key part of the Afropunk ethos has always been educating one another, breaking down boundaries and sparking conversation about race, gender, religion, sex, culture and everything that makes life worth living… After discussing the situation with the artist and the community, a decision was agreed upon by all involved that M.I.A will no longer headline Afropunk London.”

Afropunk will announce a new headliner and more of the lineup on July 19. The festival takes place on September 24 at Alexandra Palace.

M.I.A.’s fifth and final album, according to the artist, AIM is out September 9. Listen to its first single ‘Get Off’ featuring Skrillex and Blaqstarr.