The North Idaho State Fair is gearing up for Nelly to visit the Gem State for a sold-out concert, but the rapper has been facing a bit of backlash from residents. Nelly’s career has spanned decades and the St. Louis icon has earned a variety of awards, plaques, and accolades, so it comes as no surprise that his fans are excited to see him take to the stage. However, The Press reports that citizens have been circulating a blistering email chain condemning the rapper and his lyrical content.
A man named Duane Rasmussen set off the email titled “Whoa Nelly” and stated that people he has spoken with about the rapper’s appearance have expressed that they are “appalled by the actions of the fair board in selecting rapper entertainment for the fair.”
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“Perhaps the North Idaho Fair Board has already made enough money on ticket sales to the denizens of Seattle and Portland to ignore any boycott attempt,” Rasmussen wrote in the email. “Collecting money through ticket sales to people who live in [Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone] and [Capitol Hill Organized Protest] might just help us get past the financial difficulties of the last year but is that what we are willing to sell our cultural souls for?”
Those “Capitol Hill” areas he’s referring to were reportedly six blocks of unpoliced zoning where Black Lives Matter protests erupted last year. It was later “cleared out by police,” according to The Press.
“I wonder if someone on the far left that is consumed with creating everything possible to injure our traditional communities’ values and lifestyle is behind influencing weak-minded people on the KC fair board and our county commissioners by selling them on this insane decision to upset our peaceful fair with the likes of Nelly,” resident Rich Loudenback stated. “Talk about selling your soul to the devil for money.”
Others complained that Nelly “is glorifying the Pimp lifestyle” while the rapper is being urged to make his way to nearby Seattle or Portland, and it was made clear he isn’t welcome by certain groups in Idaho. The show is set to go on whether people like it or not.