Local hip-hop blog and platform Take Flight has been forced to cancel the 6th Volume of their live music event Flight Night due to the venue receiving a recommendation from the NSW Police to not allow it to proceed.
The event was set to take place on the 16th of December at The Burdekin Hotel and featured an all star case of emerging rappers including Planet Vegeta, Elijah Yo, Sailor Goon, Isaac Puerile and more.
The organisation took to Instagram to reveal the news stating that, "We have run 5 previous Flight Nights (including one at the same venue Vol 6 was meant to take place) in which we have not been notified of a single legitimate incident occurring within our events, so to hear that the venue has been asked not to proceed with this saddens us deeply here at Take Flight.
"Our free Flight Night events are something we strongly believe is needed to give not only a platform for these artists to showcase their talents, but also a place for community to thrive & people to come together to show love for the sounds coming out of Australia.
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"These being free also means anyone has the opportunity to see some of the finest artists in the country with no stress on their financial situations, not to mention helps bring some much needed energy to Sydney’s night life."
It continued, "Hearing this happen to certain artists within the Australian hip-hop & rap scene on multiple occasions was already a shock, but to now hear it move onto events like our own who have a proven track record of success & good energy is a disappointing result.
"A lot of time and effort goes into organising these events - from curating lineups, to the promotion of the events to be sure these artists have the best possible crowd to perform to. Not to mention a large amount of artists freeing up their busy schedules in order to attend, so to see it go down the drain at the click of some fingers is an absolute waste.
"This statement is in no way intended to be taken as a form of distaste for the police, more of a talking point in regards to how events like this could better be handled (possibly discussing ways together to ensure events are safe spaces for all) rather than heading to a venue and requesting they not let these type of shows go ahead."
Earlier this year the Daily Telegraph spoke to Acting Assistant Commissioner of NSW Police, Jason Weinstein who stated that, "We don’t have the power to stop anything such as concerts or songs or what people post."
This is far from the first time that NSW Police have attempted to intervene with local rap music.
In July of this year, The Daily Telegraph have reported that NSW Police will be asking social media platforms to take down aggressive rap songs and posts by local rappers as they attempt to stop gang violence.
They believe that rather than reflecting the hardships, struggles and socio-economic disparity of communities, Wester Sydney rap music and more specifically drill music is fuelling gang violence. The same argument that is often made about video games causing violence.
“Drill music and songs (in some cases) are being weaponised to basically inflame a conflict with another side. We are still seeing that trend where drill rapping is being used to talk about crimes being committed for purposes of antagonising an opposition,’’ said Weinstein.
Famed group OneFour have had a long history of their careers being censored and shut down by Police, with numerous shows and tours being shut down and cancelled throughout 2019, forcing the group to perform shows secretly or not at all.
The group's manager, Ricky Simandjuntak spoke to the Sydney Morning Herald stating that, “Usually, when it comes to shows, they don’t shut us down directly, so they press the venue, threaten to investigate past discrepancies, and put pressure on venues and agents not to do business with OneFour,"
"We’ve had cases where they’ve asked festival promoters or venues not to book OneFour. We’re used to it by now; when you’re the first out of the gate, you get made an example of, and the NSW Police are often trying to make an example of OneFour."
