Rapper Macklemore cancels Dubai show to protest UAE role in Sudan war

American rapper Macklemore said he has cancelled his October show in Dubai in protest over the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) support for Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a warring party in the country's civil war.

"The situation in Sudan is urgent and horrific and is going largely unnoticed globally. I'm following the lead of Sudanese organisers and activists who are trying to be heard,” he wrote in an Instagram post on Saturday explaining his decision to cancel the October 4 concert.

"Until the UAE stops arming and funding the RSF I will not perform there."

As the UAE’s glitzy political and tourism hub, Dubai often hosts international artists and sporting events. Macklemore's decision to cancel an engagement because of the country's politics is extremely rare.

The UAE's foreign ministry and its global media office did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for a reaction to Macklemore's decision to cancel.

Sudan's army has publicly criticised the UAE over its alleged support for the RSF, its rival in the war.

The UAE has denied the allegations, though UN experts have said they are credible. The allegations surfaced in a fiery back and forth at the UN Security Council in June.

The war in Sudan began in April 2023 when competition between the army and the RSF, who had previously shared power after staging a coup, flared into open warfare.

Efforts in pursuit of a ceasefire, including ongoing talks in Switzerland, have not eased the fighting, and half of Sudan's 50-million population lack food.

Macklemore, a Grammy-winning artist, said in his post the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza prompted him to reconsider how he earns money and his ability to use his artistic platform for activism.

"If I take the money, while knowing it doesn't sit right with my spirit, how am I any different from the politicians I've been actively protesting against?" he wrote, urging other artists scheduled to play in Dubai to reconsider.

In May Macklemore released Hind's Hall, a high-profile protest anthem in solidarity with pro-Palestinian activists occupying university campuses in response to the war in Gaza.

Reuters