The Rock The Country music festival caused some hip-hop controversy this year when they revealed Nelly and Ludacris as performers. With a shifting line-up, the country-music festival will take place in eight small United States towns on multiple weekends from May 1 through September 12. Founded in 2024 by Kid Rock, the festival has drawn some controversy for its unofficial associations with U.S. President Donald Trump and his supporters, which had rappers like Luda caught in heavy backlash.
Nelly has supported Donald Trump before, so he did not garner the same level of shock and disappointment from many fans. However, according to a Rolling Stone report, the Champaign native has now dropped out of the festival. A Rock The Country representative confirmed this and told the outlet to seek out his team "for any additional comments," which they did. According to Luda's representative, his inclusion on the lineup was "a mix-up," adding that "lines got crossed, and he wasn’t supposed to be on there."
To be clear, the Rock The Country festival is not a political event in any way, nor does it explicitly align itself professionally or ideologically with Trump and the MAGA movement. But previous iterations did hold some political weight.
For example, Donald Trump himself presented headliner Kid Rock last year with a video message at the festival, telling the crowd to "fight" and "win for the American people." In 2024, Gavin Adcock went off on then-president Joe Biden, shouting "F**k you Joe Biden, you c**k-sucking motherf***er" onstage.
Why Did Ludacris Drop Out Of Rock The Country?
Still, at press time, we don't have much of a deeper explanation from the "44 Bars" MC himself or his team regarding the specific circumstances of his drop-out. Maybe it was a scheduling or communication conflict as the statement to Rolling Stone suggests, or maybe the hip-hop fan backlash grew strong enough to cause a reversal. Either way, fans would still appreciate a more thorough message.
For those unaware, Ludacris and Nelly have performed together before, specifically at a set from Jermaine Dupri at the 2023 BET Hip Hop Awards. They were celebrating the 30th anniversary of So So Def Recordings.
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