Busta Rhymes Goes Bonkers Over 'Bogus' Forum Show

Chris Lockie
By Chris Lockie Last edited 114 months ago
Busta Rhymes Goes Bonkers Over 'Bogus' Forum Show

Image courtesy of Jason Kuffer via Flickr

In the middle of last week, a show was announced at The Forum in Kentish Town that had rap fans in a tizz. Busta Rhymes — declared "the most idiosyncratic personality in rap and professor of its most recognizable delivery, a halting, raga-inspired style with incredible complexity, inventiveness and humour" — was coming to town. "You do not want to miss this!" added the gig announcers for the north London venue.

Well, you'll have to miss it. The first sign something strange was going on appeared yesterday, when the show was cancelled due to that most nebulous of reasons, 'unforeseen circumstances'. A broken leg? An expired passport? A tantrum?

The last of those has potential as an explanation if Busta Rhymes' own Twitter feed is anything to go by.

Tweets began to appear yesterday afternoon — very shouty tweets — in which Rhymes accused the gig's organisers of pulling some sort of fast one.

Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr. — for that is Busta's real name and you always have to put their real name in things like this, especially if they're called Trevor — is due on the Isle of Wight for Bestival this weekend, and that show doesn't seem under any kind of threat.

How exactly Andy Robbins — national promoter at a company that regularly puts on successful shows around London (e.g. Madonna, The Rolling Stones, Amy Winehouse, Paul McCartney, U2) — will react to this will be interesting to see. There has been no official word from Metropolis Music, Twitter feeds other than Busta's are suspiciously silent on the matter, and waiting for replies to entreaties for comment seems as worthwhile as staring west and waiting for the sun to come up. The Metropolis website says nothing about the phantom show, so if it DID contain some sort of announcement, it's since been taken down.

The upshot of all this is that if you are the proud owner of a ticket to Busta Rhymes' concert in Kentish Town this weekend, it has suddenly become about as useful as a pair of paper swimming trunks, and you'll be wanting to hunt for a refund from the point of purchase ASAP.

Last Updated 04 September 2014