Hackney overrules police to allow Boys In A Taxi street rave
The Met asked for a counter notice to stop the TikTok duo’s 400-person pop-up outside Hackney Wick Station. Councillors refused.
On November 6, Hackney councillors denied the Metropolitan Police’s request for a counter notice, clearing a 400-person street rave by Boys In A Taxi outside Hackney Wick Station, Mixmag reported. It runs Saturday, November 14, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Boys In A Taxi are DJ Boyblue and MC Dean C. They play UKG and dancehall from inside a repurposed black cab, and their clips of apparent run-ins with police officers have gone viral on TikTok. This time they filed a Temporary Event Notice.
Hackney Police objected, citing the risk of excessive noise and to public safety. At a licensing hearing on November 3, PC Chris Stockman said attendance “may exceed the figures now suggested by the applicant.” In an “open public environment,” he added, “there appears to be no practical mechanism to control numbers should attendance increase beyond expectations.”
Boyblue, whose real name is Jason Richards, told the hearing the duo had been playing outside the station “every two weeks” without notifying the council. He said he didn’t know permission was required. “If we were making a lot of money, we could afford a security team to come down and bring ropes and barriers,” he said. Other events had ended “dead on 10:PM,” he added, and he described the night as a “pre- kind of party” before people “went on a night out.” Richards submitted testimonies from local residents and businesses in support of the plans, and councillors praised him for doing things “the correct way” this time.
