NEW YORK — Q-Tip has been a poignant voice in the hip-hop community for decades now. Lately, the outspoken Tip has several issues with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (such as his position
on homelessness and his quality-of-life plan) and has been speaking out on Twitter, telling his fellow New Yorkers not to re-elect the mayor to a third term.
The Queens legend said he was disappointed that Bloomberg discouraged 50 Cent from performing at his own "40 Day" über-block party this Sunday in Queens. "[Bloomberg is] not right for the spirit of the city," Tip told Sway earlier this week. "50 Cent is a success story we all should applaud. However you feel about him, you can't deny him. He had something going on in his old neighborhood — our old neighborhood, because I grew up there too. He wanted to perform there. He can have the benefit but he can't perform."
The event, also called "Family Day," is a free gathering of people in the neighborhood, taking place outside of the "40 Projects," a.k.a. the South Jamaica Houses development. According to 50 and G-Unit, there will be music, plenty of food and many of Fif's big-name celebrity friends mingling with the folks. The party is sponsored by Bette Midler's New York Restoration Project and 50's G-Unity Foundation.
When the New York Post published a story last week saying that the police were worried about violence breaking out if 50 staged a surprise performance at the party, the mayor himself responded, saying Fif assured him that he wouldn't perform.
"I think that's a shot to morale," he continued. "It's a shot to somebody's morale, who's 15 or 16 years old. That's an impressionable soul who sees 50 Cent, how he's not able to see him perform in a way. I think the [city's officials] are aware, but they think [50's] performance may cause rabble-rousing, or get people to act out. That's just an old way of thinking about folk, especially black folk. That's what it all boils down to, essentially."
This report is from MTV News.
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