By Matt Simonette

Staff writer

A Brooklyn, N.Y.-based rap group has alleged that Chicago gay activist Marc Loveless left them stranded in Chicago when a fundraising concert he promoted fell apart.

“I.Q.,” who along with her partner, “Nor,” makes up the rap duo KIN, said the group agreed to perform June 9 at the “Empower Concert” organized by Loveless under the auspices of his organization, the Coalition for Justice and Respect, and that Loveless left them without payment or a place to stay.

Loveless responded that the concert fell apart because of last-minute financial circumstances beyond his control, and that he ultimately did come through with hotel arrangements.

The concert was to be held at the DuSable Museum of African American History in Hyde Park and was supposedly a fundraiser for the men who were shot at a gay party on the South Side New Year’s Eve.

I.Q. said KIN agreed through email correspondence with Loveless to perform at the concert in exchange for airfare, airport transfers, lodging and their performance fee. She said that the duo reduced their normal fee of $1,500 to $500 for the occasion.

I.Q. said KIN took the gig because of its charitable nature.

“For us this wasn’t about the money,” I.Q. said. “We once drove 14 hours to perform in Atlanta for $200.”

But I.Q. and Nor’s problems started in late May when they saw that two plane tickets had been reserved for them under the same name, leaving them unable to board the plane.

Once they contacted Loveless, he assured them that the needed change would be made. But upon arriving at LaGuardia Airport June 8, I.Q. and Nor found that the change had not been made. Once again, they contacted Loveless, who contacted the airline. The change was put through—but I.Q. and Nor had to pay $120 to implement the change.

When the duo arrived in Chicago, they were met not by Loveless, but by D.J. Baker, host of the Da Doo-Dirty Show podcast, who was scheduled to emcee the concert. Baker, who lives close to I.Q. and Nor in Brooklyn, took Loveless’ rental car to meet KIN when it looked to him like Loveless wasn’t planning on going.

Baker had more bad news: Loveless had not secured KIN’s accommodations.

Loveless had told Baker to take KIN to Congressman Danny Davis’ office, but I.Q. asked him to take them to a relative’s house instead.

“We were thinking, ‘You want us to go sit in some congressman’s office with our suitcases?’” said I.Q.

Baker dropped I.Q. and Nor at I.Q.’s aunt’s home on the West Side. She wasn’t home, so they waited for two hours on her stoop.

Loveless did eventually get them hotel rooms—at 11:30 that night. But, to make matters worse, Loveless only paid for one night and I.Q. and Nor were asked to leave the following day.

Loveless said he had originally booked accommodations for all the artists at the Essex Inn, but on the previous Monday had found out he was not going to be able to arrange a direct billing, leaving him scrambling to make alternate hotel arrangements.

“Everyone else affiliated with (the performance) was working with it,” Loveless said, adding that KIN was “uncooperative” over the course of the weekend.

Baker said, however, “They had a right to (be). They’d never been treated like that before. I would have been pissed.”

The duo showed up for the sound check at DuSable the next day, where they saw a note saying that the concert venue had been moved to Café 917.

Loveless said that he secured the space in DuSable for $1,500 but was told at the last minute that the venue’s price had increased to $2,800. He said he was waiting for funds from the city. That money, however, would have only been paid after the event. The Chicago Department of Public Health originally agreed to be a sponsor of the concert, CDPH Asst. Comm. Chris Brown said, but because no concert took place, CDPH didn’t pay anything to Loveless.

Loveless was further unable to secure Café 917 as a venue.

“I couldn’t control the fact that it was cancelled,” Loveless said.

Baker arrived in Chicago two days before KIN and said he was at first impressed with Loveless, who took him to an Operation PUSH/Rainbow Coalition dinner and introduced him to the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

“If the trip had ended there, it would have been a good trip,” Baker said.

But once KIN arrived Baker made sure that they were looked after.

“It was bad enough I didn’t have anyplace to stay. I felt like I needed to make sure they had somewhere to stay, too,” Baker said. He stayed in three different hotels over the course of his five-day visit to Chicago.

I.Q. said, “I don’t know what we’d do if it hadn’t been for D.J.”

KIN went to Café 917 for the sound check, but left when it became apparent that the concert wouldn’t happen. By that time, Baker had had enough. He didn’t leave his hotel room once he realized the show wasn’t happening.

Loveless did secure another hotel room for KIN late that night. “He was going to Kinko’s and booking the rooms off of Priceline or something,” I.Q. said.

She said that she wasn’t angered so much by the money matters as Loveless’ excuses and his accusing them of “diva” behavior.

“If you mess up, say you messed up. We’ve all been there,” she said. She said Loveless paid for the plane ticket mishap, but she still hasn’t seen the $500 for the performance.

Loveless said the concert was about “building a bridge between gays and lesbians and the African American community,” adding, “I think that the problem is that we were relying on everyone to contribute.”

He said he made no money off the failed event and told KIN “the projected profit would be zero.”

“Our goal was to fill that venue with black gay and lesbian youth,” said Loveless.

But Baker said that that wasn’t sufficient to make up for the time and money lost—with his lost performance fee and incidental expenses he was out $1,000 because of his visit to Chicago.

“That whole weekend, I kept telling him, ‘Dude, you’ve got to learn how to do these things right,’” Baker said.