Idolator

Except this time it's in Canada and there's no Bill O'Reilly or Virginia Tech-related furor, just a bunch of mixed messages and no comments. XXL reports that a group of Ottawa college students putting on a "Rock The Vote" event featuring Mr. Jones summarily had the rug pulled out from under them when the venue said "no way" upon learning who their headliner was:

Isaac Cockburn, vice president of student issues for Carleton University's Student's Association, says that when the students confirmed Nas as the headliner, they were told they could no longer hold the event. According to him, Peter Seguin, vice president of food and beverage for the venue, said that the Center has a policy banning hip-hop and rap acts altogether. "He in fact said that he'd had over 200 requests for hip hop shows that he's turned down over the past couple of years," Cockburn said. "He said that it was an increased security risk and that it was a vulnerability that the Congress Centre was not willing to take on."

Cockburn says another venue official told him that it was indeed because of Nas' lyrical content, while the official PR response from the venue is that it was never intended for concerts in the first place and those other two dudes never said those things Cockburn is claiming they said. It is a bit curious that the venue would book a concert, cancel it immediately upon learning the headliner, and then claim the venue was not used for concerts. But then again it's also a little curious that these alleged anti-hip-hop comments are coming from the vice president of food and beverage, rather than a higher-up at the venue, unless the Coke and hot dogs guys hold all the cards in Canada. Meanwhile I just feel bad for poor ping-ponged Nasir, who has probably learned his lesson about trying to play benefits and/or colleges this month about a dozen times over.

Canadian Venue Bars Nas Performance [XXL]