French duo PNL has officially canceled their Coachella performance this Sunday, after one of the members was denied a Travel Visa due to immigration issues. The rap duo consists of two brothers, Tarik and Nabil Andrieu, who encountered a roadblock after trying to get a visa for months. They hoped it would come through this week, in time to make it to the festival, but U.S. immigration authorities finally denied Tarik any kind of visa on Tuesday morning.
Coachella refuses alternative performance
"Well, guys and gals, after numerous efforts we will not be able to perform at the Coachella festival," they wrote on their official Facebook page.
"The visa was denied by the American authorities this Tuesday morning," they added. The French nationals did not describe exactly what was the problem. They grew up in projects in Corbeil-Essonnes, raised by their Algerian mother after their father was arrested for a bank robbery.
Tarik's stage name is Ademo and Nabil goes by N.O.S. Because Nabil was able to get a visa, they considered having him perform in Indio, where the Coachella festival is located, and use technology to add Tarik to the performance.
"We had decided to perform no matter what, N.O.S. right there and Ademo in France with a live broadcast at the scene. But the festival's organizers decided otherwise," they revealed on Facebook.
American debut canceled
This would've been the rap duo's first performance in America, somewhat of a reward after a troubled upbringing. Last summer, they encountered great success with a Fader cover and huge sales of their album "Dans La Legende," which sold over 500,000 copies. They have close to two million followers on YouTube and some of their music videos, such as "Le monde ou rien," have over 70 million views.
When they were picked up to perform at Coachella, it seemed all the hard work had paid off.
"This will not stop us, on the contrary, this gives us even more ambition. We continue to work for our fans and we thank again all of those who traveled to see us!" they vowed. PNL, which stands for "Peace N' Lovés," is prepping the release of a new album in October, "Le Monde Chico."
At the end of the statement, PNL added a few hashtags, including #ArreteNousSiTuPeux, (which means "Stop us if you can") and #NotreMusiqueTraverseraLeurPutainDeFrontiere (which means "Our music will cross their f***ing border").
PNL's fate at this year's Coachella follows similar incidents earlier this year, when a number of bands and musicians were denied visas to play at South by Southwest, in Austin, TX.
Tourism likely to get hit
The tourism industry predicts a significant drop in the number of tourists traveling to the U.S. this year, as much as 6,3 million less visitors. The main reason is the negative buzz around President Trump's executive orders banning entries from Muslim countries and Syrian refugees. The perception of a tougher admission process at the border and overall negative sentiment surrounding the President is also to blame for what analysts are calling "the Trump slump."
