Akon joins "The Dance" instead of Snoop Dogg - because of Trump video
09/05/2017
written by Annika Hagemann
Rapper, musician and actor Snoop Dogg (45) will not be coming to "The Dance" at the Hallenstadion on 20 May 2017 - but Akon (44), a no less well-known musician, will be traveling to Zurich for the big urban dance show.
The reason: with the music video "Lavender (Nightfall Remix)", Snoop Dogg made an extreme statement against the US president, causing a huge stir on the internet. The rapper shoots Trump.
The music video shows a nightmarish world in which the faces of all the characters except Snoop Dogg are painted with clown make-up and in which children and adults carelessly shoot each other with pink confetti guns. Towards the end of the clip, Snoop Dogg himself points one of these guns at Trump, who is standing next to him as a clown who has been caught.
The controversial clip led to so many headlines and political discussions that organizer Farah de Tomi and Snoop Dogg's booker considered the risk of a trip to Europe too great, and so it was quickly decided to hire Akon instead of Snoop Dogg for "The Dance".
Trump himself reacted indignantly to the video on Twitter:
In an interview withBillboard, the rapper justifies himself: "I'm always trying to fill a void with my tracks. I have the feeling at the moment that many artists don't deal with the clown we have as president at all and only make songs about parties and fun. That's why I didn't do any party tracks this time."
Despite the unexpected change of plans, viewers of "The Dance" can now look forward to Akon. The multiple Grammy Award nominee has already worked with Snoop Dogg himself and produced songs for world-famous singers such as Lady Gaga, T-Pain and Leona Lewis. In a video message, Akon says how much he is looking forward to the spontaneous performance in Zurich:
In addition to his jury function, Akon will also be giving live performances of his greatest hits. Otherwise, the audience can expect a competition with a wide range of artists. These include the British band Bars and Melody, DJ Yugson Hawks, DJ Renegade and John Agesilas.
