Nas blamed his no-show at a Newfoundland concert this past Thursday (May 28) on “janky” Canadian promoters. Several of his fans were arrested after a mini-riot erupted when local promoter ODC told them Nas would not be performing. In a post on GlobalGrind.com, Nas explains his absence:

“I had this show booked for sometime now and found it interesting to see St John’s, Canada since I never had been there, and heard great things,” Nas explained. “So we decided, let’s do it real quick and get warmed up for Rock The Bells! So, I didn’t expect no f**kery but was quickly reminded how things like this still happen to people in the game! [laughs] Bad business is bad business! Every now and again artists are asked to travel to another country to do their thing! But instead they arrive and are met by some strange people and instead of doing real business, these “JP’s” [janky promoters] are saying they have insufficient funds!”

Craig Cantwell of ODC Productions told CBC News that the company paid Nas about half of his fee, and thought that Lux Entertainment of Halifax had paid the rest. Instead, he learned that the money was not available. Cantwell also said that Lux even failed to procure return air tickets for the show’s opening act, Canadian hip-hop star Kardinal Offishall.

Nas had some words for promoters out there:

“My advice to wanna be promoters anywhere they are…. Take business serious….
Learn about being professional. Always. Its very important to be real with people. Don’t continue to pull these 1950 style ways of doin business. Its wack.”

Let’s hope there’s an end to this “jankiness” before the Rock the Bells Tour – 1st stop, Chicago!