Kid Cudi, real name Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi, also said he was led to believe that M.I.A.’s team had understood his request to avoid potentially divisive statements.
M.I.A., real name Mathangi Arulpragasam, was the warm-up act for Kid Cudi’s Rebel Ragers tour.
Footage from a 2 May performance shows the audience erupt into boos after the singer says: “I’ve been cancelled for many reasons. I never thought I would be canceled for being a brown Republican voter.”
She is also heard to say she can’t perform the song Illygal, “though some of you could be in the audience”.
In a follow-up post on X, she stated she was not able to vote in the US, despite describing herself as a Republican voter.
London-born singer M.I.A. began releasing music in 2003, and became a sensation thanks to her unconventional sound and discussion of political themes influenced by her upbringing as a child of Sri Lankan parents.
She reached major recognition with her 2008 song Paper Planes, which hit number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammys.
She was also nominated for an Oscar for “O… Saya”, from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack.
More recently, the star has courted criticism with her stances on certain topics.