An apology was issued as a result of controversy
surrounding Ja-Rule‘s performance at 98PXY’s
Summer Jam concert last week in Rochester, New York. According to reports, complaints
about loudness and the obscene language used during the Ja-Rule’s performance
flooded Supervisor Ralph Esposito’s office the next morning.
The official sponsors of the concert, the Rochester
Broadway Theater issued an apology for the obscene language that Ja-Rule used.
"We weren’t expecting the profanity and I didn’t think the language was
acceptable either, but we can’t overlook the fact the 12,000 kids were singing
those same vulgar words right along with the artist," John Parkhurst, Chief
Operations Officer of the league told local newspaper the Gates Post.
Other performers, such as O-Town, Aaron Carter,
Soluna and Shaggy performed at Rochester Technology Park last week. According
to reports, when Ja-Rule took the stage, calls from 911 started coming in. "People
had legitimate complaints. It was way too loud over there," Esposito said.
While Parkhurst acknowledged he was shocked at
the profanity by Ja-Rule and concert goers, he and Esposito disagreed on the
volume of the music. Parkhurst said that the volume of the concert remained
level the entire evening. "During the last act, the crowd started singing
along with the artist which probably made it seem louder," he said. "The
crowd had a lot to do with it."
"The language was terrible," Gates
Police Chief Thomas Roche added. "There were a lot of kids there and the
people in the surrounding neighborhoods didn’t want to hear it either."
The problems at the event may have ruined it
for other concerts in the future. "I can say the next time an application
like this comes to the Town Board, we will be extremely careful when reviewing
it," he said. "We want to make sure a problem like this doesn’t happen
again," Esposito said.