When the Rock the Country tour lineup was announced recently, Ludacris was one of the headliners. A few days later, he is no longer a part of the shows. His manager said there was a schedule mix-up, but the truth might be how much money the rapper might have lost.
The Rock the Country tour takes place over eight days in mostly small towns. To be sure, it is a tour that President Donald Trump would approve of. In one of the tour's previous incarnations, he announced via video that Kid Rock was coming onto the stage. There is little doubt that the concerts are filled with MAGA supporters.
A person can either agree with right-wing politics or not, as a person has a right to their views, of course, but if one is part of Rock the Country, one can assume that they support Trump. After all, the headlining list includes Kid Rock, Jason Aldean, and Brooks & Dunn, among many others.
Ludacris decides to not participate in the MAGA-filled Rock the Country tour
To be associated with the concerts means people are going to see that you agree with MAGA opinions as well. This meant many fans thought Ludacris was all in on Trump. He might be, but his withdrawal from the tour probably comes more from the social media backlash he received than anything else.
The rapper might have asked himself who the people are that buy his songs and albums, and download streams, and looked at who would be attending Rock the Country, and realized those aren't his core group of people. Maybe he would make a lot of money on the tour, but that would be a short-term gain.
The shows wouldn't have been the first time that Ludacris worked with one of the headliners, though. Jason Aldean has been very outspoken in his support of Trump, and the rapper and country star collaborated previously on "Dirt Road Anthem Remix" in 2011, and the hip-hop artist's Burning Bridges EP in 2018.
The song was prior to Trump becoming president. The EP was right in the middle of his first term.
One can interpret Ludacris's current withdrawal from the Rock the Country and his previous work with Aldean however they want. The guess is that Ludacris's decisions for both had to do with his bottom-line financials instead of any dogma of political opinion. Money ultimately rules all for some.