Pedestrian have posted an exclusive interview with Supafest top dog Dwayne Cross as he prepares to dive head first into pre-festival chaos, but according to Cross, 2013 will be a lot less chaotic than 2012. The promoter has explained that things were done differently this time round, with Cross reaching out to those who have pulled through for him in the past.
“What I’ve done this year in particular,” Cross began when explaining the points of difference with the event’s 4th instalment, “is use a number of artists that I’ve worked with over a period of time. Due diligence has been employed by myself and the team we are working with to figure out how the line-up is going to be powerful and sell tickets but also be promoter friendly.”
Those names include headlining acts Fiddy, T.I and Akon. As Cross explains, “We’re working with people we have history with. I’ve toured 50 here a couple of times. I’ve toured Akon. T.I. has been committed to us for well over a year”
Cross sums up the attention they’ve put into the detail of 2013 by adding, “We’ve been really safe with the people we’ve picked. They’re media friendly, we have relationships with them, and we can rely on them.”
The 2012 leg of the festival left a bad taste in the mouths of many but mostly ticket holders. P.Diddy, Missy Elliott, and Rick Ross all failed to show for one reason or another, but as it turns out, last year was the first clusterfuck Cross has experienced in 10 years of loyal service. Cross also addressed the barrage of negative press from the incident:
“There is a passion for this genre of music that I really have. That’s the only thing that aggravates me, when I read press and comparisons to other promoters and other events, with people saying that they’re looking to capitalise on the market and it’s been done unprofessionally over the last blah, blah, blah. If you look at the history and go back through the roll-call of all the artists we’ve toured here, it’s clear we’re at the forefront of urban and it’s clear our track-record for delivering far exceeds the very few instances where we haven’t been able to deliver.”
As it turns out, Rick Ross has habitually proven to be a total flake, “three times he’s been a no show. For us in particular, he was paid in full, flights were paid for, visas were paid for, everything was done in the standard manner. For whatever reasons, political or otherwise, he just decided not to show.”
Cross not only has high hopes for the festival, but also for the urban movement in Australia. Radio stations dedicated to the genre, and TV programs that subscribe to hip hop also. And it might not be too far off, “I’ve manged to get it to a point where we have a festival that everybody is talking about and other promoters are looking at our turn around time. We have a passion for the music, what it means, and what it takes to get it to the level where we have it here.”
You can check out the full Supafest line-up and dates here.
