Aussie rap act OneFour’s Adelaide show has been cancelled and the group blames police pressure
They’re one of Australia’s biggest underground rap acts, but OneFour’s Adelaide show has been cancelled at late notice – and the group claims police are shutting down their gigs.
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A show by controversial rap outfit OneFour at HQ on Wednesday night has been cancelled, with the group’s members claiming NSW Police has put pressure on venues to cancel their gigs.
OneFour, from the western suburbs of Sydney, is one of the fastest-rising rap acts in the country with their YouTube videos attracting tens of millions of views.
The clip for the band’s track Spot the Difference, uploaded in June this year, has already received more than 7.2 million hits on the video-sharing website.
OneFour performs a style of rap called drill which focuses on the gritty and sometimes violent aspects of street life. In the UK, where drill rap is one of the most popular forms of hip hop music, the genre has been linked to gang violence and has been singled out for criticism by British police.
In a statement on Instagram, OneFour said: “We’re devastated that due to issues beyond our control the Adelaide show has now been cancelled. There will be full ticket refunds. There’s a bigger issue for us is this continues a pattern of concert cancellations which deny us a platform to perform and single out our fan base. To be clear there has been no incident at any of our live concerts and why the band would want or allow that to change for our fans does not make any sense.”
Live Nation declined to comment on the Adelaide cancellation, as did SA Police, noting that the group was currently looking to liaise with NSW Police. HQ had not responded to a request for more information at the time of publication.
In a longer statement issued by OneFour’s management, the group claims that tour dates, and possibly the entire tour, had been scrapped due to “pressure from the New South Wales police”. The group said that 75 per cent of the 6000 available tickets to the tour had already been sold.
“OneFour management were informed shortly before the band’s (Sunday night) Melbourne show that despite there being no previous incident at a band concert, it would not proceed,” the group said.
“Management believe this was at the request of NSW Police. NSW Police have not provided any written reasons for why they have taken these steps. They have not engaged with or contacted OneFour management.”
The group, which hails mostly from the Western Sydney suburb of Mt Druitt, said shutting down their gigs showed authorities were preventing OneFour members from moving on from a life of poverty and crime.
“OneFour’s songs depict a life of adversity and conflict that few outsiders have access to but that has connected them to a wide and growing fan base,” the statement said.
“They have come out of one of the most disadvantaged postcodes in Australia and are on the verge of being the first rap band to break into the US and UK music scene. That opportunity to transform their lives is now being denied.”
OneFour said any interference from authorities in determining which acts could play at which venues “sets a dangerous precedent”.
“NSW Police also risk the perception that they have an inherent, in-built bias against youth and disadvantaged communities,” the group said.
“Our lawyers, Simpsons Solicitors, wrote to the NSW Police on November 22 seeking an explanation and urgent meeting. The band though is determined to seek a resolution of this issue through continuing to seek to engage with NSW Police constructively.”
The ABC has reported that NSW Police alleges in court documents that OneFour is connected to an ongoing turf war between rival groups in Sydney’s west, their lyrics incite violence and there are concerns about public safety at their concerts.