Christian hip-hop artist Hulvey canceled a sold-out concert in Amsterdam just an hour before he was scheduled to perform, citing sexually explicit images and objects displayed inside the venue that he said were inappropriate for his audience, particularly young children.
The rapper, who recently took home the Dove Award for Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year, said he made the decision after learning that venue officials would not fully cover the graphic material, despite requests from his team. In a video shared on social media, the 27-year-old Georgia native explained that fans attending a VIP meet-and-greet had encountered disturbing images and objects throughout the building. The show was set for Oct.
16 at Club Annie, a venue across the street from the Melkweg cultural complex, Protestia reported. “On the walls of this venue were extremely, extremely graphic images to the point that I cannot say what they were,” Hulvey said.
“And not only graphic images, but there were explicit objects in the venue that people saw.” The “Bring Heaven Down” artist emphasized that he was concerned about protecting children and families who had purchased tickets to the show. “I was meeting 7-year-old fans at the meet-and-greet, and there are tons of kids outside,” he said.
“I am not OK with people seeing what was on those walls, and the type of things that they could be exposed to at a Hulvey concert would not be OK to me.” According to Hulvey, the concert was initially booked at a different location but was moved to a larger venue after ticket sales surpassed expectations.
He said his team was unaware of the sexually explicit displays until shortly before the performance and tried to compromise with venue management, asking that the images be hidden.