Brampton-based singer Sidhu Moose Wala shot dead in India: reports
Brampton-based Indian singer/rapper Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead by unidentified assailants" on Sunday in Jawaharke village in Mansa district of Punjab, according to reports.
According to the Hindustan Times and other Indian media sources, Wala was killed just one day after the Punjab government withdrew his personal security of two gunmen."
Two other people were reportedly injured after 30 rounds were fired, according to the newspaper. Wala was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Wala - known offstage as Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu - moved to Canada in 2016, and rose to fame while an international student here. He was known for popular songs including Mafia Style" and Homicide." Wala also released a song titled B Town" in 2019, a tribute to his neighbourhood in Brampton.
Moose Wala had joined Congress last year and had unsuccessfully contested elections from Mansa constituency," the Times article stated.
It was reported that Wala had cases filed against him over songs he made that allegedly promoted gun culture and violence."
The Bharatiya Janata Party, a major political party in India, reportedly called Wala's killing a state-sponsored murder."
Chief Minister of Punjab Bhagwant Mann expressed his condolences to Wala's family Sunday after the news broke, stating that nobody involved will be spared."
My thoughts and prayers are with his family and his fans across the world. I appeal everyone to stay calm," Mann said.
While Moose Wala had stepped into the political realm, his rap skill earned him fame in Canada. The former MuchMusic, now known as Much, marked his death with a social-media post on Sunday, noting that many of his songs had hit the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 charts.
A review last year in Complex Canada of his single with Toronto's Blockboi Twitch noted that while his debut came from the single G Wagon" in 2017, it was the breakthrough hit So High" with Toronto producer Byg Byrd that really earned Moose Wala local acclaim and attention. The review traced the musician's roots in lyric writing to his time pursuing an electrical engineering degree in India.
His EP No Name" dropped this month, and spent weeks on the Billboard charts. While Moose Wala has sometimes faced criticism for references to gun violence in his tracks, his music has also transcended borders; in 2019, the Guardian listed Moose Wala among 50 new artists to watch for 2020, arguing that a track with British rappers Mist and Stefflon Don - titled 47" - achieved a rare feat of getting South Asian music onto the UK charts. Even if he struggles in the bhangra-resistant quarters of the U.K., it won't be down to his voice, which is delicately mellifluous even with its power maxed out," it said.
But planned performances in Canada in recent years have been plagued by security concerns. In 2019, the CBC reported that Surrey RCMP did a public safety assessment before the popular rapper was set to take the stage for the local 5X Fest Block Party, which resulted in the performance being yanked from the lineup. The city, in a statement provided to the CBC, cited public safety issues" at past performances: a stabbing at another Surrey concert, plus gunshots being fired at a Calgary event.
Just this week, ticket sales for a Moose Wala performance at Pacific Coliseum - scheduled for July 23, as part of the performer's Back To Business" tour in Canada and other countries - were put on hold, as the venue sought the advice of the Vancouver police department. Laura Ballance, a spokesperson with the Pacific National Exhibition, told the Star their team wasn't aware of any specific threat with the show. (The tour was to take him to Mississauga on July 30.)
But while doing their regular security assessment, the Pacific National Exhibition team decided that further conversations were needed with security stakeholders" like the police, she said. That wasn't possible to arrange before tickets went on sale - so in the interests of not having to later refund tickets if the show was scuttled, Ballance said they elected to postpone the initially scheduled ticket drop until sometime next week.
We saw the event in Surrey, we had seen the recommendations at the time by the RCMP," Ballance said, also noting the incident that took place at the previous Calgary show. When you look at that, and see there have been some incidents at past shows then you have some more fulsome conversations."
As of Sunday afternoon, Ballance hadn't heard from anyone in Moose Wala's camp or the show's promoter, but had been following the grim news about his slaying as it emerged from Indian outlets. Expressions of shock and condolences for Moose Wala's death peppered the web throughout Sunday.
Deeply shocked and saddened by the murder of promising Congress leader and talented artist," Rahul Gandhi, leader of the Indian National Congress party, wrote in a Twitter post.
My heartfelt condolences to his loved ones and fans across the world."
Ande Fraske-Bornyk is a reporter for the Star's radio room based in Toronto. Reach her via email: afraskebornyk@thestar.ca
Victoria Gibson is a Toronto-based reporter for the Star covering affordable housing. Reach her via email: victoriagibson@thestar.ca