Speech Debelle Cancels US Tour Due To Visa Problems

You may not have yet heard of Speech Debelle. I certainly hadn’t until she went and won the 2009 Mercury Music Prize in September, beating the likes Glasvegas, La Roux, and Florence and The Machine in the process. But she’s big on the British hip-hop scene and was due to take herself and her music over to the States for a tour this month.

Unfortunately, Debelle has had to cancel the gigs due to what NME calls “Visa problems.” Debelle isn’t the first artist to encounter such problems, with Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen also succumbing in recent years. Anyone would think America didn’t want to let young, female British pop stars into the country, maybe for fear they’ll run amok and disturb the natural order of things.

It does seem a little strange to try and take British hip-hop to the United States though because this is a country with enough rappers already. And with all due respect to the girl, Speech isn’t much competition for Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Eminem.

[Photo Source: Newscom]