News Piece for The Daily Telegraph
Wireless Festival Cancelled After Kanye West Refused Entry Into The UK
West banned from the UK due to antisemitism, causing major uproar from all sides
Albert Hacker
On the 7th of April, Wireless festival announced that they were cancelling the entire festival due to “the home office banning Ye from entering the United Kingdom”.
Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) was set to headline the festival, which was scheduled to run between the 10th and the 12th of July in London’s Finsbury Park.
The breakdown of the festival came after they announced West as the headline act, sponsors quickly began to remove themselves, within a week, from the festival, citing the antisemitic comments made by West in the past as their reasoning. On the 5th of April, PepsiCo were the first to announce that they were retracting their sponsorship of the festival, followed by PayPal a day later.
Festival Republic (the company behind wireless among other festivals, such as Reading and Leeds) produced a statement claiming that “as with every Wireless festival, multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking Ye and no concerns were raised at the time”. They did go on to reinforce their strong position against antisemitism stating, “antisemitism in all its forms is real and abhorrent”.
However, the festival stuck by West with Melvin Benn, the managing director of Festival Republic, reminding people that “mental health is not something that disappears overnight”. Then upon the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, refusing West’s application to enter the United Kingdom for the festival, they announced they were forced into cancelling the festival and refunding all who purchased tickets.
Originally West’s application was accepted, and the home secretary gave her reasoning that his visit would “not be conducive to the public good”. Keir Starmer followed this up by saying that the “government stands firmly with the Jewish Community”.
West posted a statement declaring his “only goal is to come to London and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace, and love through music.” He also expressed remorse to the Jewish community stating he will “show change through my actions”.
After this years confirmed cancellation Wireless are yet to announce whether the festival will return next year.
Opinion piece for The Observer
Kanye West Isn’t Allowed Into The Country And Rightfully So, The Country Is Divided
Festival Republic obviously shouldn’t have booked West in the first place, but should the home secretary have involved herself?
Albert Hacker
If the booking agents for Wireless were looking for press coverage with their headline selection, they certainly got it. All press is good press, until it isn’t I suppose. They sold out after announcing West so at least the refund team are booked and busy.
Kanye West (now known as Ye) as a headliner in London in 2026? It is like a bad dream. There is a high chance that other booking agents woke up in cold sweats having nightmares that they’d tried to make a decision like this. External pressure was what caused this year’s festival to be cancelled with PepsiCO and PayPal pulling their support, even before West was denied entry to the country.
In the last few years there has been a barrage of controversial figures in the mainstream, we can’t get away from them, but West is one of the bigger ones. Both due to severity of action but also due to public standing. So, who looked at that and decided he was the one to headline three nights in Finsbury Park.
West has been repeatedly, publicly antisemitic including an outburst, in February 2025, where he posted on X saying, “some of my best friends are Jewish and I don’t trust any of them” and “I’m a Nazi”. If that wasn’t enough, he also ran a super bowl ad leading people to his yeezy website where he was selling t-shirts emblazoned with swastikas. This is only a small section of his various antisemitic outbursts.
The overwhelming majority of people, myself included, are baffled by the choice to select West as the headliner for the festival and naturally, Jewish people and organisations (such as the Jewish Leadership Council) are outraged. However, there are mixed feelings towards the home secretary (Shabana Mahmood) and her decision to revoke Wests previously agreed application of entry. This sets a dangerous precedent. The government having this power is something that worries me, and a lot of other people.
The public opinion should be heard but the outcome should have come from Wireless, rather than the government blocking West from entering the country. My sentiment is shared with the public, even those strongly opposed to West being allowed to perform have been either posting on social media or being interviewed stating that it shouldn’t be a governmental decision.
In truth, I cannot see why anyone ever thought this was a good idea. When I saw the announcement, I thought it was an early April fools joke. Even with the money that West would bring in there are other options who would have sold just as many, and likely for a fraction of what West would have cost. Festival republic (who run Wireless) are yet to confirm whether Wireless will return next year – has West killed their chances? I’m inclined to say no. Even with London’s recent dealings with dangerous antisemitism ticket sales were massive for West and I’m sure most would have gone and if not, sold their ticket to someone who would.
Interview Feature for Rolling Stone
THE WRANGLERS: THE ROLLING STONE INTERVIEW
Meet the Leeds based country band bringing a slice of the USA to West Yorkshire
By Albert Hacker
There is something unusual about the idea of hearing country music in a Leeds venue but fresh off the back of their successful headline gig at headrow house “country inspired” band, ‘The Wranglers’ are creating a portal to the USA.
The Wranglers on stage consist of five members: Leo Hicks, Milly Ballington, Sean Robinson, Dylan Wilson and Sian Keates and I was lucky enough to meet with Leo and Milly at the University they attend where they talked me through their musical lives from start to finish, and what’s coming next.
To open the interview, I asked to know how each of them originally found themselves involved in music and Milly prompted Leo to go first who immediately reached for his furthest back memories. It turns out Leo started playing the guitar at 7 and was heavily influenced by his Grandad, who had a “loft full of guitars” and there was a family band. Leo affectionately recalled the fact that nobody ever got the name of the band right – even confusing himself! We concluded that it was ‘Acoustic Manor’ and Leo found himself involved after his Grandad fell ill. It was the thing that kickstarted his desire to become a musician and prompted him to create a YouTube channel. It is still there now but to spare his blushes I will save the finding of that for those eager enough – I however, have seen it and it is brilliant viewing.
Milly’s musical introduction came at the hands of family too but with slightly less naming confusion. She described herself as “the insufferable musical theatre child” and so joined the musical sphere from a very different angle to Kings of Leon playing Leo. Milly followed in the footsteps of her sister who was involved in amateur dramatics and fell in love with it after watching her in High School Musical, later getting involved herself. She did however grow up in a musical household but until coming across her love for musical theatre felt the incessant need to, in her own words, “rebel” against that. Luckily for the future of Leeds country scene, she found herself loving music more than anything else.
I asked the pair how they originally met and how the formation of the band started. It turns out that they met at Leeds Conservatoire in the pop choir. Milly described seeing Leo join and thinking “ooo fresh meat” due to her one year of seniority over Leo. They struck up conversation and really it petered out from then until Milly was in desperate need to create a band for an assignment to which Leo heroically stepped in and The Wranglers were born.
The lineup, now settled, had a few previous formats with even one point Dylan Wilson (the current lead guitarist) as the bassist. However, they explained that albeit they as a five are The Wranglers, the true Wranglers are Leo and Milly alone and due to that all decisions and financial burdens fall to them. This isn’t a decision they take lightly but the rest of the members are happy with the premise as it allows them freedom within their other projects too.
Country isn’t the biggest genre within the UK especially not at a grassroots level and Leo and Milly have had their fair share of tribulations due to this, for example finding themselves on a bill with a punk band. Dolly Parton and the Sex Pistols? Maybe it would have worked, but for The Wranglers it certainly didn’t and they are loving the control that comes with headlining and promoting their own shows. They did note that they love the “small scene” because of the ability to “meet all of the people and all of the artists” but also that they are excited for the growth that is happening and they hope to be a big part of it.
Concluding the interview both told me about their plan for the future. They have released two singles so far, but feel a slight disconnect to them because they were written in a time period where they felt as though they were going too far with the styling and battled with authenticity. Talking of the new music that is coming Leo and Milly beamed with excitement running me through the process that they have with writing and recording. They were pleased to explain how they finally feel as though they are writing what is authentically them. No longer are they shiny British replicas of Americas country stars. Unfortunately, no current announcement for the releases, but it doesn’t seem far away.
Leo let slip the potential secret that they are planning a UK tour bringing a taste of the West Yorkshire country music, potentially to a city near you. I know for sure I will be finding myself at the next Wranglers gig, but I’ll definitely be leaving the cowboy hat at home.
Album Review for the Guardian
Ella Langley ‘Dandelion’ Album Review – Rising country star doubles down on social media success with sophomore album
Langley found the formula with her debut album and her sophomore album is even better. Country is hitting the mainstream and Langley is in the pack leading the charge.
Albert Hacker
In 2024, Langley was thrust into the mainstream when the, at the time, up and coming country star hit number one with her collaboration, ‘you look like you love me’, with more established artist Riley Green. Since then she has been on a consistent upwards trajectory into stardom certainly furthered by her second and newest album, ‘Dandelion’.
The album was released on the 10th of April and was highly anticipated due to the immediate success of the debut single for the album, ‘Choosin’ Texas’ and has become Langley’s first number one album on the Billboard 200.
Langley’s sophomore album is steeped with nuance and lyrically shows the classic alcohol drinking, horse riding of country music but also the yearn for both stability and love. The album feels authentic because of this and for every ‘Choosin’ Texas’ or ‘Bottom of your boots’ you have a ‘Somethin’ Simple’ or a ‘Butterfly Season’, this isn’t taking away from the effectiveness of the first two, they are well rounded classic style country songs. The album has something for everyone and that is the best part about it. The listen is like a journey, and you are never stuck in the same place for too long. This is what separates this body of work from lots of those that have come before it.
‘Dandelion’ is bookended by ‘Froggy Went A Courtin’’ both intro and outro versions, a song Langley loved to sing with her grandad before he died. These small snippets create the sentiment for the album that show Langley as still grounded despite her growing fame and success. She consciously reflects that in the titular track where she says, “I tried sipping on the champagne, but it’s always gonna be Jack”.
It is a less traditional country album and sonically blends clear influence from traditional country and folk but also Fleetwood Mac style 70s pop rock. The album has a natural feel with acoustic guitar an ever present and lap steel on most, but it also has a clean modern feel to the production making it easy listening whichever way you choose to listen. So, if you’re a complete country purist you might find yourself reaching for the skip button a few times, but plenty of people are and will continue to be, listening to ‘Dandelion’ until the tape needs rewinding – and rightly so.
