On Thursday, a performance at the Tanana Valley State Fair was cut short when the performers were kicked off the grounds.
Bishop Slice, a.k.a. Julian Lillie, and Starbuks, a.k.a. Michael Cofey, are both well-known rappers in the area and have performed at the fair in previous years.
Lillie said that whoever was in charge of the sound cut them off after a complaint about their lyrics, despite the fact that their act is billed as “Clean Hip Hop and Soul appropriate for all ages.”
“I didn’t cuss in none of my original music, you know, because I like to keep it at a friendly level. Because I’m playing at the fair, you know, I’m aware of that, and I’m aware that families are there,” Lillie said.
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The performers were halfway through the set when the sound died entirely and the microphone was cut.
“I thought maybe we blew the speakers or, you know, like, we had a power outage or something. He (the sound guy) approached me and said that this would be the last song,” Lillie told KTVA. “They told him to cut me off.”
When attendees at the fair began to chant for Bishop Slice, Joyce Whitehorn, who was in charge, told them to “knock it off, all of you, or you’ll be eighty-sixed out of here.”
Cofey recorded the incident and posted it to Facebook as he asked Whitehorn for an explanation as to why they were being kicked out but did not receive one.
“It’s our fairgrounds and it’s not going to happen,” said Whitehorn after the set was cut off.
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“I’m just asking why we’re being kicked out,” asked Cofey.
“Because I asked them to,” Whitehorn responded.
“So, you asked him to kick us out because we performed music that we were asked to perform?” said Cofey. “We didn’t have any swear words. There was no violence. Nothing negative happened, other than our performance being stopped.”
Whitehorn responded: “You’re a really good speaker, but I’m sorry that’s the way the rules. That’s how it is.”
News of the incident left many fans upset and crying foul over the way the men were treated.
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