Following the unfortunate deaths and hospitalizations on August 1st at the Mad Decent Block Party in Columbia, Maryland, Diplo and the Mad Decent crew have been forced to take extra precautionary measure in an effort to keep ravers safe. One of those actions includes the ban of Kandi. This MDBP Kandi ban has sparked a huge fire within the community as many people don’t believe the beloved beads are tied to drug use or tragedies.
Diplo stated, “I never wear Kandi and I understand it’s not drug related culture inherently .. We just had serious issues with kids hiding it .. and there was a definite relationship between safety and security and made it so we had to ban certain items” in a short essay just a few days ago.
He goes on to say that he would “trade 100 thousand angry ravers to have 100% safe and happy street parties when we started it on philly 6 years ago” only to finish his paper with “I have thick skin so u guys that consider yourself plur can attack me all you want it doesn’t bother me.. I’m just here for the music.”
I applaud Diplo for being stern and standing by his team, even while the decision to ban Kandi wasn’t his own. It’s clear that this has upset a lot of event go-ers, though, since the ban there has been no major incidents reported. Below you can read Diplo’s letter in its entirety.
“So… I never wear Kandi and I understand it’s not drug related culture inherently .. We just had serious issues with kids hiding it .. and there was a definite relationship between safety and security and made it so we had to ban certain items. We have teamed up w dancesafe .. Cooperated w police and medics to really handle the last three parties and We have set up free water stations at all the mdbp .. All I care about is people coming to enjoy music and have a safe and good time.. Everything else is secondary .. I would trade 100 thousand angry ravers to have 100% safe and happy street parties when we started it on philly 6 years ago. So it’s all good if your into whatever your into we just implement these rules for you.. Not against you … This is just a simple set of rules we are using to make things safer… I’m sorry of they affect you or keep you from coming..All over the world kids and woman getting killed right now over beliefs, this is silly to get angry over .. If it bothers you just don’t attend I’m down for anything positive but this doesn’t affect our parties too much … Im not the promoter, I actually had nothing to do with the rules being implemented but i do agree with my team.. And cause of who I am.. I’m the de facto speaker.. I have thick skin so u guys that consider yourself plur can attack me all you want it doesn’t bother me.. I’m just here for the music.“ – Diplo (via Facebook)
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