A day after American rapper A$AP Rocky was convicted of assault in a Swedish court, the University Students’ Council (USC) has confirmed he will still headline Western University’s upcoming Purple Fest 2019.
A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakin Mayers, was convicted of assault on Wednesday in connection with a June 30 brawl in Sweden.
He and two members of his entourage were handed conditional sentences and won’t be returning to prison.
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Nico Waltenbury, USC communications officer, confirmed to 980 CFPL on Thursday that A$AP Rocky would be the headliner for the Sept. 28 concert at Western University’s TD Stadium.
“The artist’s agency has now assured us that he will be able to travel to London for this performance,” Waltenbury stated.
At noon Thursday, the USC also announced other performers for this year’s Purple Fest, including A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Tyga and bülow.
The student council is hoping Purple Fest can help draw students away from unsanctioned fake homecoming or “FoCo” celebrations, which last year drew roughly 20,000 people to Broughdale Avenue.
“The USC and Western remain committed to offering students a safer alternative venue to celebrate their purple pride on September 28th and we look forward to welcoming our constituents back to campus in a few short weeks,” Waltenbury continued.
FoCo earned its name after Western pushed its sanctioned homecoming event back a month in the wake of homecoming 2016. The hope was that students would be in the middle of midterm exams, and the cooler weather would deter the outdoor partying seen along Broughdale in recent years.
It didn’t have the intended effect. The following year, some Western students protesting the change staged their own faux homecoming, which was attended by an estimated 11,000 people. A sanctioned homecoming was held a few weeks later.
— with files from 980 CFPL’s Jaclyn Carbone and Matthew Trevithick and The Canadian Press.