NEWS
Luke Bryan
Jim WrightEvent producer CID Presents plans to move forward with its current slate of destination events in Mexico following the cancellation of Dead & Company’s Playing in the Sand weekends. Playing in the Sand was scheduled to take place between Jan. 7-10 and 13-16 in Riviera Cancun, Mexico before the band and producers announced the cancellations Thursday due to the surge in COVID-19 cases across the globe.
In a statement provided to Billboard, CID Presents says they intend to proceed with their other January events at the same location, including Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa (Jan. 19-22) and Hootie and the Blowfish’s The Big Splash (Jan. 26-29).
“As we all know this is an ever-evolving situation and the rise and fall of COVID-19 over the past several months has been outside of our control. We are continuing to monitor the latest guidelines and recommendations from both the U.S. & Mexican governments as well as our on-site medical teams,” the statement reads.
CID promises to keep artists, crew and guests abreast of the ever-changing situation due to the omicron variant and states, “If, at any point during the two weeks leading up to a particular event, the CDC Risk Assessment Level for COVID-19 for the Quintana Roo (Cancún) region of Mexico rises to a Level 4 or Mexico designates the area unsafe to hold an event we will be offering full refunds to those not wishing to attend the particular event and will work closely with the artists and their representatives to determine if an event should be cancelled. At this time, we are taking this situation day by day and event by event.”
CID Presents is also scheduled to host events by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds’ on Feb. 18-20, Phish on Feb. 24-27 and My Morning Jacket on March 2-5.
“We are focused on Crash My Playa, our next event slated to start on Jan. 19, 2022 and look forward to delivering the outdoor beachfront concert experiences our fans have been waiting for while maintaining as safe an environment as possible. We continue to recommend buying travel insurance which may help protect against the risks of COVID-19 and traveling internationally during the pandemic,” the statement concludes.
Earlier this week, Dead & Co were forced to cancel their two weekends of events in Mexico after member Bill Kreutzmann announced he would not attend the shows in Mexico due to health complications and frontman John Mayer revealed he tested positive for COVID-19 before leaving for Mexico. Playing in the Sand attendees were instructed to check their emails for refund information.
Following the Dead & Co cancellation, electronic music festival Departure cancelled its inaugural show in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico on Friday. The electronic event was scheduled to begin Friday (Jan. 7) in the resort destination and extend through Jan. 11 with a stacked lineup featuring more than 70 artists.
“We have been liaising with local authorities from Playa Del Carmen and with the recent severe rise in the cases of omicron in the past few days, the governor announced last night that Playa Del Carmen is returning to yellow tier COVID restrictions and therefore we cannot continue with a show of this size as planned,” organizers Pollen wrote in a statement posted to social media on Friday.
NEWS
There is no question that Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out made a serious impact and continues to hold weight. The project showed that hip hop is not limited by age and proved that a long-awaited return can still land in a major way regardless of the time away.
If you need a reminder, the Virginia duo’s fourth studio album debuted comfortably within the top five of the Hot 200. It secured the number four position and moved an impressive 118,000 units in its first week.
On top of that, it picked up a win at this year’s Grammys, earning Best Rap Performance for “Chains & Whips.” The album also received four additional nominations, including Best Music Video, Rap Album, and Album of the Year.
It is hard to believe the project will officially hit its one year mark this summer on July 11. Even so, Pusha T is making it clear that both supporters and critics should not be overlooking it anytime soon.
While performing at Coachella yesterday, King Push told the crowd that LGSEO still sits at the top, regardless of genre.
He said, “‘Let God Sort Em Out’ is still the album of the motherfckin year. Whole new year, still album of the year,” per Kurrco. “Album of the motherfcking year until we drop again. We don't care who dropping. It don't matter.”
That is a strong statement for obvious reasons, especially considering the recent claims surrounding Push himself.
Over the same weekend, hip hop social media lit up after several alleged reference tracks connected to Quentin Miller and Push began circulating. Three tracks surfaced in total, but one that drew the most attention was an alleged record titled “Real Gon’ Come.” It is said to come from the DAYTONA era, around 2017 to 2018.
The situation gained traction because fans remember the past tension between Drake and Pusha T before Drake’s clash with Kendrick Lamar. During that feud, Pusha accused Drake of using ghostwriters on tracks like “Infrared,” which appears on DAYTONA. On that song, he raps, “The bigger question is how the Russians did it /
It was written like Nas, but it came from Quentin.”
Reactions have been mixed. Some people argue it is not a major issue since Miller’s alleged contributions were limited to hooks. Others point out that the songs were never officially released, so they see no real problem. Meanwhile, critics view it as clear hypocrisy on Pusha T’s part, a perspective that DJ Akademiks has also supported.
