Despite weeks of promotion, hip-hop artist Roscoe Dash will not be visiting Athens anytime soon.
Preston Robinson, the event’s promoter and a sophomore at Ohio University, began advertising for a Sept. 13 show at The Pigskin featuring Dash in August. But Wednesday, with just more than 24 hours before Dash was supposed to perform in Athens, the show was canceled — without ever having been confirmed in the first place.
Robinson contacted Dash’s agent, Eric Byrd, about one month ago, Byrd said.
No money was exchanged, and no contract was signed, Byrd said.
“It usually doesn’t matter if we don’t get a deposit, so we left it alone, because this type of thing happens all the time,” he said.
Although nothing was set in stone, OU sophomore and Athens rapper Corey West and the owners of The Pigskin said Robinson reached out to them at the end of August about promoting the event.
“I came back into town, and (Robinson) told me he had booked Roscoe Dash for The Pigskin and that he wanted me to open for him,” West said. “He gave me 10 tickets to sell for the concert.”
Robinson denied supplying West with tickets or having any knowledge of ticket sales. However, he said he listed his number as a contact for ticket sales on fliers he acknowledged posting.
“No one lost any money from the tickets, and I have no recollection of any tickets,” he said. “If someone else is making tickets, then I have nothing to do with it. I’m not getting any money from anyone from any ticket sales, so I have no clue.”
Byrd said that Robinson told him another agent had initially been involved but then took the event’s funds and ran. Byrd also cited a conversation last Thursday when he explained to Robinson that a payment needed to be submitted by last Friday. He never received the payment.
“He told me he was already advertising for the event, but you’re not supposed to advertise or anything until the artist is confirmed,” Byrd said. “It’s a scam if he is selling tickets because he has no artist coming.”
Robinson, however, said he believes he did nothing wrong by posting fliers.
“I was putting a bunch of fliers up, but as far as promotion goes, I’m allowed to do that,” he said. “But I wasn’t selling any tickets.”
Chris Roach, co-owner of The Pigskin, said he is very disappointed that the artist will not be making an appearance, even though the bar had no involvement in promotion or ticket sales.
“I just thought I was doing a good thing, and it turned out to backfire, and it’s not because of me,” he said. “It’s because of this mystery man.”
Roach said Preston contacted the venue as the event’s promoter, armed with a contract from Dash’s booking agency and fliers for the event. The owners of The Pigskin insisted on drawing up a contract before participating in the promotion or ticket sales for the event.
A contract was never signed; Roach said Robinson “disappeared off the face of the earth” and “wouldn’t return their calls” to finalize the deal.
“(Robinson) fancied himself as a promoter for the concert, but he did not say he was working for the entertainer,” said Rick Wasserman, co-owner of the bar. “The fact is that this kind of thing happens eight or nine times a year. They claim they are some type of promoter, and we work out a deal with them, and nine times out of 10, they never show again.”
Brian Williams, a manager for local rap group Team Yizzo, said he had a similar experience when approached by Robinson and his new company, P9 Enterprise. The company does not have a website but has a Twitter page. There was one tweet promoting the event that has since been deleted.
After the event was rescheduled, Team Yizzo dropped out of the lineup.
“It was kind of an unusual thing,” Williams said. “Before he even said (Roscoe Dash) was coming, he contacted us and asked us to be an opening act. He said we were in charge of promotion and ticket sales, though I’m glad we didn’t end up selling any. We have our own brand and our own cleaning up to do because of this.”
Williams said Robinson gave Team Yizzo 60 tickets to sell and was instructed to sell them at $30 each. West said he received similar instructions and was successful in selling one ticket, but when the concert was rescheduled, he offered the buyer a refund.
“I didn’t know anything,” West said. “I was just doing what he told me to do; I mean, he told me Roscoe was coming, and I hope he still is.”
Robinson denied any knowledge of promotion or ticket.
lf328610@ohiou.edu
