Beast Coast Concert Canceled After Threats Of Gun Violence

On August 11, the New York collective Beast Coast—consisting of rappers Joey Bada$$, Flatbush Zombies, The Underachievers, and other members of Pro Era—was forced to cancel its show at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill due to multiple threats of gun violence. Click On Detroit reports that the Macomb County Sheriff’s Department is currently investigating after two separate calls were made to both the Auburn Hills and Sterling Heights police departments. The show was officially canceled by the tour’s promoter 313 Presents, who issued this statement:

Sheriff Anthony Wickersham of the Macomb County Police Department commented on the severity of the threats. “In today’s world and things that are going on just recently we have to take each threat very seriously,” he said. The threats come just one week after the deadly shootings that occurred in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas. This cancelation bears similarity to a recent situation faced by Cardi B, who was forced to cancel a show in Indianapolis amidst threats of terrorism on July 30.

This is the second show Beast Coast was forced to cancel along their Escape From New York tour. Their set at this year’s Gov Ball festival was cut short due to inclement weather, but the self proclaimed “Greatest Show in Rap” has requited their fans with full refunds and even rescheduled a return show to New York on August 22.

Since rising to underground prominence in the early 2010s, The Underachievers, The Flatbush Zombies, and Pro Era members have interwoven themselves into each other’s discographies, but 2019’s conglomerate album, Escape From New York marks the Brooklyn based collective’s official debut.

The group is often looked to as revivalists of the gritty boom bap sound that characterized New York hip-hop throughout the ‘90s, Beast Coast has also juxtaposed experimental tracks like “Bones” with the homage-paying “Snow in the Stadium.” Escape From New York is still laced with the psychedelic references and cityscape imagery that longtime fans have identified them with, but this latest project is a full display of the artistic range of the 10-person supergroup.

Read all the lyrics to Beast Coast’s new album Escape From New York here on Genius.