LA rapper Drakeo the Ruler was a rising star in the West Coast rap scene whose sound is credited with defining the sound for a new generation of LA hip-hop artists. He was set to take the stage at a major music festival in December 2021, but he was killed in an altercation backstage. His family is now suing the festival promoters, Live Nation. LA Times music writer August Brown joined Lisa McRee on “LA Times Today” to talk about controversy surrounding Live Nation’s security practices.
Brown explained that the Once Upon a Time in LA festival was supposed to be a big comeback for Drakeo after a stint in prison. He talked about the security protocols at the event.
“[Drakeo] and his team pulled up in a Rolls Royce to the artist entrance backstage. The first protocol was getting checked for passes by a security subcontractor. Second, the team was, as they described it, pretty haphazardly scanned with a metal detector and a drug dog, but they recalled a lot of people driving through unchecked. It seemed like they were letting a lot of people in pretty erratically. And given what happened next, it was pretty clear that they weren’t checking as thoroughly as they could have,” Brown said.
Brown described by critics of Live Nation allege that the security at its events is too lax.
“A month before Drakeo was killed, there was the Astroworld disaster in Houston where ten people were crushed to death in a crowd surge during Travis Scott’s set, who’s a very influential rapper from Houston. There have been hundreds and hundreds of lawsuits based around that festival representing thousands of plaintiffs... There have been a number of instances of things like stage collapses and Live Nation festivals... Possibly Live Nation isn’t paying close attention to what their contractors are up to and how they’re managing festival sites,” he said.
Live Nation has spoken out in defense of its practices amid unforeseeable events.
“There have been some tragedies that probably were outside of their purview, like the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting in Las Vegas, which was the worst mass shooting in American history... To their credit, that’s pretty impossible to foresee or prevent on their behalf. And at concerts, people are going to take drugs, are going to get drunk and things are going to happen,” Brown shared.
Drakeo’s family has taken legal action against Live Nation.
“I interviewed [Drakeo’s brother] at length for this story. You can tell he and everyone involved is just shattered by what happened. Beyond looking for the suspects, which have still not been identified in this slaying, they want accountability from the promoter. How could a headlining artist have been murdered backstage at his own concert?” Brown said.
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