On July 3, a Swedish court ruled that famed rapper A$AP Rocky be held at a Stockholm detention center for two weeks during an investigation into an alleged assault. Rocky was deemed by the court to be a flight risk, much to backlash back on American soil.
The incident in question occurred on June 30, when video footage appears to show Rocky and friends fighting with a pair of Swedish men. The footage was filmed by bystanders, published by Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, and contains no dialogue between the parties. However, around the same time the footage surfaced, Rocky posted a pair of videos to his Instagram account. One shows Rocky and entourage members, primarily a security guard, asking a pair of young men to stop following the group. Rocky captioned the video: "SO A FEW DRUG ADDICTS ARE NOT MY FANS, WE DON'T KNOW THESE GUYS AND WE DIDN'T WANT TROUBLE, THEY FOLLOWED US FOR 4 BLOCKS, AND THEY WERE SLAPPING GIRLS BUTTS WHO PASSED, GIVE ME A BREAK."
The second is spliced together from a number of interactions with the men, who are asked repeatedly to stop following Rocky and his crew. At one point one of the men attacks Rocky's security guard with a pair of headphones; at another, Rocky clarifies for the camera that he and his friends simply want the men to leave them alone. At the very end, a woman who cannot be seen onscreen says that the men groped both her and her friend.
In the comments--amid messages of support from fans and famous artists and spats over racist policy and sentiment toward Arab immigrants in Sweden--Rocky himself posted twice, saying first, "IM INNOCENT" and then, "THEY TRYNNA ARREST ME OUT HERE NOW , SMH."
The detainment has disrupted a string of international dates, including planned shows in London, Dublin, Oslo, and Gdynia, Poland. Rocky is also scheduled to perform at the Rolling Loud music festival in New York, and many avid fans are hesitant to buy tickets until his announced release.
In a recent Instagram post, fellow A$AP Mob member A$AP Ferg said Rocky is "in solitary cofinement with no visit or phone call privileges." As news of Rocky's arrest has spread, several of his peers have declared a boycott on Sweden, including Tyler, the Creator; T.I.; Schoolboy Q; and Lil Yachty. Meanwhile, a change.org petition launched urging that the Swedish government release the rapper on the grounds that Rocky and his group acted in self-defense. The petition, #JusticeforRocky, calls the jail's unsafe environment "inhumane conditions and the clear violation of human rights." It claims that Rocky has been subjected to "solitary confinement, restriction of amenities for the most basic of human functions, access to palatable and life-sustaining food as well as unsanitary conditions." The petition, at over 350,000 signatures at press time, has received an outpouring of support from the entertainment community, including Michael B. Jordan, Post Malone, Miguel, and more.
The flame got fanned after Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, and President Trump made efforts to land Rocky's release. The nation is now swept with controversy over what takes precedence for the greater good. What about all those kids in cages at the border? What about that massive amount of Pentagon funds being directly allocated toward PART of the wall? Twitter has been buzzing with angry tweeters saying #JusticeforRocky is overshadowing the cruel and unsanitary conditions mere children are facing. They are being torn from parents, friends, and family. They have no way to contact their loved ones and are piled in cages like slaughter-ready cattle. It's brutal what these children are going through, and yet a famous rapper gets media headlines. Why?
I think this is due in part to Rocky's financial hold on the country. Not to say that he has all the money in the world, but he does contribute a vast majority.
Think about it: why else would Trump want to move so swiftly? He's panicking. He knows he needs to hone in on more voter districts and appeal to their demographics (aka the African American community). In a convoluted stroke of luck, he just might get more black voters on his 2020 campaign if Rocky does get free. Isn't that just backwards? Kim and Kanye, moguls in the industry, have all the funds, media coverage, and influence necessary to free A$AP, and while we would love said beautiful man to come back to the States, we have more pressing matters at hand.
Trump might also rely on Rocky's income taxes. Again, Rocky isn't the richest rapper alive, but he owns a $3.05 million mansion, for crying out loud...not to mention his luxurious lifestyle and expensive cars. The man feeds the government, for lack of better words, and Trump is at a standstill. The fiscal year ends in September 2019, which means Trump might be scrambling to amass wall funds and campaign money. Smart move, but is it smart enough?
Rocky might be subject to inhumane treatment, but that is one person out of how many others that don't possess the bank account, or the followers, or the media attention. How about signing petitions to free the kids? How about bringing these innocent children back to their families and impose more regulations on ICE?
