What’s the biggest insult to a DJ? Requesting him to play a song during his set? Perhaps. But it’s even more degrading when a DJ is asked by the club to cut short his set to make way for a VIP, who can play instead.
If you can’t believe that, it recently happened to Egyptian trance duo and legends Aly & Fila. Playing at Singapore’s iconic club Zouk, the club’s management told Fadi to play a B2B set with the Malaysian prime minister’s son, Norasham Najib. When he refused, the management told him to end his set so Norasham could play. A video for the incident went viral, leading both the club and Aly & Fila to make a statement regarding the row.
Check out the statement from Zouk and Aly & Fila below!
Statement from Aly & Fila:
The start of a great night that didn’t end so well:
First of all Zouk Singapore has been one of my favorite clubs in the world, so sad that my last time playing there ended this way. Before you go through my statement plz remember that I can’t blame Zouk in general as there are a lot of great people working there from audio engineer to VJs etc….
I will make it really easy and clear with a list of facts:
1-my contracted set time was 1:30 – 3:30
2-Zouk’s new owner was hosting a “VIP” guest (the Malaysian PM son)
3-I arrived at Zouk at 1:00 am and had a quick interview.
4-Byden who works for Zouk and who takes care of the artists and the night in general told me I can play until the end. I can finish 4:15 and then play an extra 15 minutes more.
5-I went to the DJ booth they introduced me to the the “VIP Guest” and the new owner of Zouk.
6-started my set at 1:40
7-at 3:30 Byden came to me and asked me if I m willing to play back 2 back with that “VIP” guest and my answer was simple:”no way”
8-I continued playing then 15 mins after Byden came to me and he told me that I will have to stop as the new owner wants the “VIP guest” to play.
There was no misunderstanding!!! And instead of apologizing, Zouk keeps posting those lame statements and articles trying to get away with it.
My advice to Zouk:
1-never disrespect artists who helped you build your brand. I m not saying I built their brand, just talking in general. They need to respect their residents and local talents and their international guests.
2-try to fire your new owner smile emoticon
3-fire the PR team
4-admitting your mistake is Brave, but you aren’t.
I did what I did to defend my right as a human being not as a famous DJ or whatever. I was insulted and I reacted. I didn’t expect that it would go viral like that, but this is what I call Karma. I just wanted to let our fans who payed money to see me know the reason why I stopped my set and I didn’t play the 3 hours like every time I have been there.
That’s it!
Fadi Wassef aka Fila from Aly & Fila
Check out the video of the entire incident below.
H/T: EDMTunes
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