M.I.A. has been kicked off of Kid Cudi's The REBEL RAGERS North American Tour following a political rant that elicited boos from concertgoers on May 2. Today, May 4, Kid Cudi posted a statement on his Instagram stories saying that M.I.A “is no longer on this tour.”
“I told my management to send a notice to her team before we started tour that I didn’t want anything offensive at my shows," he wrote. "I already knew what time it was, and I was assured things were understood. After the last couple shows, I’ve been flooded with messages from fans that were upset by her rants. This, to me, is very disappointing and I wont have someone on my tour making offensive remarks that upsets my fanbase.”
Videos made the rounds this morning of remarks she made at a Dallas tour stop May 2 at the Dos Equis Pavilion. M.I.A. — who just released a new album about her deepened Christian faith, M.I.7., this April — said, "I’ve been canceled for many reasons. I never thought I would be canceled for being a brown Republican voter." In addition, she said, " can’t do ‘ILLYGIRL,’ [a song] though some of you could be in the audience,” inspiring groans from the audience. She soon after added, "All right, I’m illegal. Half of my team are not here because they didn’t get the visa, OK? I want you to know that. All right? So don’t listen to what the bots say on the internet.”
M.I.A. was quick to react on X following the news, writing, "DO NOT GAS LIGHT MY WORDS. THAT IS THE WORK OF SATAN," as part of a statement quote tweeting a video of the viral rant.
"I WROTE BORDERS AND ILLYGAL AND PAPER PLANES BEFORE YOU THOUGHT IMMIGRANT RIGHTS WERE COOL. I'VE HAD THSES BATTLES BY MYSELF WITHOUT THE HELP OF MILLIONS OF FANS BACKING ME . I DON'T NEED THIS VIRTUE SIGNAL ERA TO ALL OF A SUDDEN ERASE AN ENTIRE LIFE I'VE LED," she wrote.
M.I.A.'s music has long explored complex themes of politics, persecution, and rebellion, and indeed, she's the global state of migration and borders in her music. Her biggest hit, "Paper Planes" famously tells the story of passport counterfeit and violence. Later songs like "Borders" further nodded to the topic, its chorus beginning with her asking "Borders (What's up with that?)." The aforemtnioned "ILLYGIRL" is less about immigration than questioning the justice of the law, with M.I.A. singing, "I'm illegal / Above the law."
The artist's longstanding poltical outspoken began to markedly shift in recent years, as the artist, a always a critic of politicians across the political spectrum, began to further align with voices on the political right, going on Candace Owens's show and Alex Jones's Info Wars, becoming a vocal supporter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s political movement "Make America Healthy Again" before fully endorsing President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election.
Controversies aside, M.I.A. still maintained a sizable fan base, recieved positive reviews for her last album, and even made it on Kid Cudi's stadium tour alongside Outkast's Big Boi. Her recent comments, according to groaning fans and Cudi himself, seem to have been a step too far for her to continue on the tour.
Stay tuned for more information on M.I.A. and Kid Cudi's Rebel Ragers tour.