With a new president in office, and an African American one at that, some may have thought that racism was a thing of the past. However, Saturday June 6, 2009, may have proven that theory a fallacy when DJ Jazzy Jeff was kicked off the stage at the Power & Light District in Kansas City, Missouri.

According to HipHopDX.com and The Kansas City Star, racism accusations have been amidst the venue for nearly a year. Even with their attempts to deny this accusation, evidence proves otherwise.

DJ Jazzy Jeff performed on Saturday and was booted off the stage after a mere 30 minutes or less of performing and immediately both black and white people in the crowed began shouting accusations that Power and Light didn’t want him to play Hip Hop music. This is what Jeff had to say on that matter:

“My road manager walked up to me and said they were having problems with the music I was playing,” said Jazzy Jeff. “I played three more songs and he comes back. I knew something was wrong. They said I had to kick Skillz off the stage, change the format of the music I was playing or quit. They said if I continued playing they had 30 cops ready to come escort me offstage. So I stopped.”

According to Jeff, they the venue officials said he was set to attract the wrong type of element. Alongside Jeff was rapper Skillz who made “gang-like signs and grabbed at his genitals,” according to Jeff, but he also added that Skillz didn’t curse at all.

“I’m in shock,” said Jeff. “I didn’t understand what element they were talking about. I looked out in the crowd and it was multicultural, but about 75 percent white. Everyone was having a great time. I wondered what was so offensive. I never had a race issue. I didn’t know how to feel. I was playing ‘Just a Friend.’ Is that offensive? What element? It’s uncomfortable when you feel unwanted.”

Jon Stephens, who is the President of the Power & Light District, denies the accusations by adding that the problem was a volume issue.

“The issue that arose with the performance last night was completely about the sound levels,” said Stephens. “His audio tech was maxing out the sound system to a point that risked damage to the speakers and sound system. His sound techs and management refused to bring the decibel level down. They were told to bring it down or cease performance. They refused to go on.”

“Obviously we have a desire to book a diversity of acts,” he continued. “We booked Jazzy Jeff on a Saturday night, the biggest night of the week in the district. We were excited to have him there. It’s unfortunate that his sound and management people had problems adhering to the sound and audio rules. We wanted him to play. That’s why we booked him.”

It may have not been racism; however, do you really need 30 police to escort two people off stage for a volume control issue? It sounds kind of funny, especially when Jeff was blazing songs by Jay-Z, Rihanna, Biz Markie, and Ne-Yo. Now it could all be a big misunderstanding but the situation is suspicious. What happened to just asking someone politely to calm it down?

This just shows me that while we have come so far as a country, we have so much further to go. People get it together its 2009, not 1909!

Necro Fined $3000 For Assault

What ever happened to the days when you would freestyle or dance battle the person you had a problem with? Rappers are getting way to aggressive these days. Recently Brooklyn rapper and producer Necro was fined $3,000 for an incident that took place on June 5th, 2009. This assault left a man with a fractured cheekbone. This altercation took place during the Australian leg of Necro’s International tour.

AllHipHop.com says that Necro was allegedly standing outside of a café when he was approached by two men who accused him of looking at them the wrong way and those men then allegedly aggressively asked, “What the f*ck are you looking at?”

According to Necro’s defense lawyer, Necro attempted to calm down the situation and replied “What’s your problem? I’m not looking at you but I can look at who I fucking want.” After that, according to reports this altercation became physical and Necro punched of the men several times and his friend Christopher Catenacci later joined in to help, only escalating the situation.

Both Necro and Catenacci were arrested and Necro was not able to perform at the Hyde Park Hotel. He spent a night in jail and eventually pled guilty to assault. He had this to say as he left the courtroom:

“I love my fans, I’m going to send them a personal response online [about this incident].”

 It sounds like self defense but I guess the courts didn’t agree. Everybody has something to prove so they feel it necessary to purchase that good ole’ “Thug In a Box” for some extra motivation. It’s really getting old. Didn’t you guys hear Jay- Z, the gangsta is so last season!

So far that is all that has been stated about this situation