Baltimore pulls plug on Kanye West video events; events happen anyway

by Sheme Jobs

Update: It looks like West was able to prevail, to an extent: At about 9 p.m., Def Jam Records tweeted that a projection would take place on the Walters Art Museum, 45 minutes earlier than the originally scheduled time in what appeared to be an attempt to buck the cancellation announced by city police earlier in the day. Twitter user @Milly_Esquire posted several pictures that appeared to show just that.

“Attention Baltimore: Let’s beat the cops,” Def Jam then tweeted at 9:40. “We are headed to the Bromo Seltzer tower. See you at 9:50!”

Kanye West may be projecting his new video onto buildings around the world, but it won’t be happening tonight in Baltimore anymore.

Just hours before West’s video “New Slaves” was to be beamed on the Bromo Seltzer tower, the Walters Art Museum and Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore Police tweeted that the event had been cancelled.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed that the cancellation was on the city’s part, saying the organizers did not have proper permits. He cited the use of electricity and anticipated crowds.

Guglielmi noted that showings in Houston on Friday night were also cancelled; here’s a report from the Hollywood Reporter.

Baltimore and Houston were to be part of a second wave of screenings after West debuted the song on 66 buildings across the globe. To get a taste of what Baltimore’s missing out on, here’s video (warning: explicit language) from a projection in San Francisco.

Houston Police Shut Down Kanye West’s ‘New Slaves’ Screening

by Sheme Jobs

A Houston screening of Kanye West’s “New Slaves” video was shut down last night (May 24), the Houston Chronicle reports

West planned to project the music video for his new song around the world Friday night, including at three Houston locations. However, the showing at the Rothko Chapel was shut down before it even began. Houston police arrived on the scene and ordered the gathering crowd to disperse or be arrested for trespassing.

The screening’s premature end apparently wasn’t because of an unruly crowd; according to the Chronicle, those gathered were excited, yet respectful.

The two other Houston screening locations had issues, too. Technical difficulties apparently hampered one location, while another was a no-show entirely, with fan Janet Quiroa revealing that the only entertainment was having sprinklers come on and “obnoxious people screaming Kanye threats.”
West debuted “New Slaves” last week in a similar fashion, with building projections around the world, including New York (a full map of screenings is located on West’s website). Houston’s projections were part of the second wave of screenings in preparation for West’s new album, “Yeezus,” which is set for a June 18 release.

Watch a video of “New Slaves.”