Rapper Lil’ Kim will not be making the trip to MSU this Homecoming weekend.
The Oct. 15 show featuring the risqué song stylist has been cancelled because it took ASMSU, the event’s sponsor and university’s undergraduate student government, too long to seek insurance coverage to ensure safety of those attending.
“We couldn’t get insurance from anybody,” said Kendall Sykes, ASMSU Student Assembly chairperson.
The student government allocated $50,000 on Sept. 24 to fund the performer’s contract and services. The ASMSU Programming Board also provided $15,500 from its budget to pay for additional materials and services.
After a three-week, coast-to-coast search, ASMSU found a New Jersey-based company that would insure the three-hour performance for $3,500.
“That is incredibly high,” Sykes said.
“Normally it would cost 500 to 700 dollars.”
Even though all other arrangements - security, stage, and advertising - were organized, Lil’ Kim could not sign the contract until insurance was set.
“I am definitely disappointed that the concert is not happening,” Sykes said. “(But) this is no one’s fault.”
Sykes was not the only one who was discouraged by the cancellation of the Homecoming 2000 concert.
“I am disappointed because there was nothing else to do,” said Erin Peters, a chemistry freshman who was planning to purchase a $14 ticket to the show.
Most of the insurance companies were cautious because of the performer, Programming Board Vice Chairperson Tori Treadwell said.
“Most wouldn’t even give us a price quote,” he said.
During Lil’ Kim’s live performance at The Source award show earlier this year, fights in the audience were instigated and caught national attention, making insurance companies more cautious about supporting rap or hard rock shows.
Treadwell said the confrontations occurred before Lil’ Kim even stepped on stage and it was unfair of insurance agencies to blacklist her show.
“It’s horrible because it had nothing to do with her,” he said. “It was purely coincidental.”
Despite the show’s cancellation, ASMSU officials are still optimistic they can host concerts in the future.
“We just wanted to get the floodgates open and show everyone that we could do this,” Sykes said.
While it may take some time, the student government still plans on arranging future events.
“We are in kind of a brainstorming process right now,” Treadwell said.
