Organisers of the Sydney Royal Easter Show have clarified their stance on rap music being banned at this year’s event, claiming their intentions had been misconstrued upon the ban’s announcement.
In a statement shared with The Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday (April 5), Brock Gilmour – chief executive of the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW (which operates the annual Easter Show) – said his organisation had “not banned rap music as such”, but rather all music that contained explicit language or “aggressive tones”.
As for how that had inadvertently translated to a blanket ban on rap music – as communicated last week by NSW Police, who justified the ban by arguing that “rapper music” is being used to “lure youth into a life of crime” – Gilmour explained: “I think what happened is the link was made that rap music has a lot of swear words, has offensive language and has this tone about it. Any music that has that kind of flavour to it will not be played.”
Gilmour went on to say that rap music could in fact be played at the Easter Show, so long as it abides by the condition that it’s “quite pleasant and [does not contain] offensive language”. He also stressed that NSW Police had no part in establishing the ban, with the RAS having made that decision independently; the board’s president, Michael Millner, reportedly expressed support for it.
“We haven’t asked for a ban on the playing of rap music,” confirmed Mal Lanyon – a deputy commissioner at NSW Police, and the man said by the Herald to be “commanding the operation” – affirming that “there is no ban on the playing of rap music”.
NSW’s newly appointed arts minister John Graham expressed support for the ban, but noted that as much is not black and white: “They are complex issues,” he told the Herald, “so I hope we are not using simple solutions, and that’s one of the things I want to keep talking about to the music community and the police while I’m in the portfolio.”
Support for the ban has not been unanimous within government, though. Josh Pallas – president of NSW’s Council of Civil Liberties – said the ban reflected an abuse of power on the part of those in charge: “In a way it’s thought-policing because rap music is just another instance of free expression.
“If police have clear evidence of the way this music is complicit in recruiting people into gangs, they need to be far more transparent and specific in producing that publicly. Show us the evidence.”
Sydney rapper L-FRESH The Lion also took issue with the ban, naturally, opining to the Herald that it is “as ridiculous as it sounds” and stands to alienate a large portion of the Easter Show’s target audience. “It shows a complete lack of understanding of not only the genre but of music, generally, and of youth culture,” he said. “They’ve effectively just banned most of the top 40. Pop music has drawn from hip-hop extensively in recent times.
The ban itself was initially announced on Tuesday (April 4), with Stuart Smith – assistant commissioner for NSW Police – specifically targeting Mount Druitt drill group OneFour as a reason why “rapper music” poses a danger for Australian youth. He labelled the outfit a “gang” and accused them of “carrying out serious violent crime” on behalf of the Comancheros bikie group.
“We’ve got all the evidence we need to demonstrate that rapper music is being used to lure youth into a life of crime,” Smith said at the time, however he has not yet indicated what that “evidence” comprises.
The decision to ban rap (and other types of music deemed offensive by the RAS) was reportedly made in light of the death of Uati “Pele” Faletolu, who was fatally stabbed at last year’s Easter Show when a brawl broke out near the amusement rides. The 17-year-old was working at the event as a sideshow employee.
This year’s Sydney Royal Easter Show opened yesterday (April 6) and will run until Monday April 17.