Mayor John Tory says he has expressed his concern with North by Northeast organizers about a free Action Bronson concert in Toronto next month.
The New York-based rapper is set to perform at Yonge-Dundas Square on June 21 as part of the annual music festival and news of the performance has prompted 7,000 people to sign an online petition to have the artist removed from the NXNE lineup.
Creators of the petition posted the lyrics of Bronson’s song “Consensual Rape” on the website and wrote that his music “glorifies gang-raping and murdering women.”
When asked about Bronson’s upcoming performance at a news conference Thursday, Tory said he doesn’t believe the performance will comply with the venue’s policies.
“As a person, I find the trend toward this kind of disrespectful, you might even argue it's abusive, sort of language to be astonishing and very disturbing,” Tory said, adding that it is not his place to decide what constitutes music.
“I certainly registered with (senior NXNE officials) that we just can’t have that sort of thing happening in public spaces.”
In a tweet sent out Thursday evening, NXNE said there will be an update on the status of the concert tomorrow.
Toronto, we’re listening. Let us work through the night to create a positive outcome to this situation. We will address the public tomorrow.
— NXNE (@nxne) May 28, 2015
