Wireless accused of being a ‘penis fest’ by singer Mahalia over majority male lineup
Wireless #Wireless
Singer Mahalia has called out Wireless Festival after it announced another lineup that was overwhelmingly male.
The London music festival is currently scheduled to take place between 11-12 September, with Future, Skepta and Migos announced as the headliners.
Other artists on this year’s lineup include AJ Tracey, Lil Uzi Vert, Nines, Meek Mill, Megan Thee Stallion and D-Block Europe.
Despite her success in the past year, including picking up three Grammy Awards last month, Megan Thee Stallion was featured relatively low on the billing.
“Wireless back at it again with the penis fest. Whew I’m tired,” Mahalia tweeted.
A number of fans on Twitter were also clearly unimpressed at the lineup, albeit for different reasons. Many complained that there was a bigger number of UK acts over US acts.
The skew towards British artists is likely due to current travel restrictions for those arriving to England from outside the UK.
This includes the requirement to take several Covid-19 tests and quarantine for 10 days in an approved hotel.
Currently the government has advised the public to avoid making any plans to travel abroad this summer.
Wireless faced a similar backlash in 2018 after booking just three female artists, which dropped to two after Cardi B was forced to pull out.
Lily Allen and Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac were among the high profile figures to call out the festival at the time, with Allen tweeting that the “struggle is real” and Mac calling the lack of women “appalling”.
Meanwhile Paul Pacifico, CEO of the Association of Independent Music, called the lineup “absurd”, adding: “Half the population are female, half the people attending the event are going to be female – it seems absurd that Wireless wouldn’t balance a schedule that was a bit more balanced.”