Raggamuffin rapper confused Australia for NZ

Compton gangster rapper The Game was a no-show at Raggamuffin, and fans are wondering what happened to him. Photo/Instagram

A war of words has broken out over the disappearance of one of the headlining acts at Saturday's Raggamuffin music festival - but it turns out he was in the wrong country.

Organisers say the Compton gangster rapper, known for songs like Hate It or Love It and Standing on Ferraris, skipped his flight from Dubai and flew back to Los Angeles instead of performing at the Auckland event.

But on Instagram, the rapper said: "I didn't miss my flight, we were denied entry once we landed at Customs."

It seems The Game got his countries confused, however. The Australian Associated Press reported the rapper was told to leave Australia immediately by border security officials because he had the wrong visa.

AAP reported he flew into the country from Dubai on Friday on his way to New Zealand, and was stopped by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, who promptly told the rapper and his crew to leave.

According to TMZ.com, security officials informed The Game, real name Jayceon Terrell Taylor, that he and his crew did not have the correct visas to enter Australia.

His Australian tour was cancelled and full refunds were offered.

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News of The Game's disappearance was revealed to Raggamuffin fans from the stage mid-afternoon Saturday, resulting in boos from the crowd.

Angry fans also commented on social media.

"I brought my tickets at the gate on the day I only went to see The Game. Surely at 12pm on Saturday you all knew he wasn't going to be there (and) he didn't catch the plane. So you could have let us know at the ticket booth. Felt scammed I honestly won't have gone in if I knew he wasn't there," wrote one angry punter on Facebook.

In a later statement, Raggamuffin organisers said they had a copy of The Game's Visa, issued by New Zealand Immigration, but couldn't make it public for privacy reasons.

"The Game was 100 per cent approved to enter New Zealand. His management and I know this as fact," Raggamuffin director Andrew McManus.

"We honestly believed The Game would honour his obligations to our festival and it was only when we had our people at the airport on Saturday to pick him up to play Raggamuffin IX did we find out he did not board the plane in Dubai. Statements to the contrary are simply not true.

"At no point would we consider trying to swindle our faithful Raggamuffin family. The whole Raggamuffin team and myself personally are deeply disappointed by what happened yesterday and can only promise, if we can sort things out with The Game and his management, we will do everything we can to make this up to all of his upset and disappointed fans."

Raggamuffin said The Game would return for a full New Zealand tour in September, and ticketholders would get a 20 per cent discount on tickets.

It's the third time the rapper has been a no-show at a scheduled concert in New Zealand, including failing to turn up to the Roc tha Block festival at Vector Arena in 2007, and for a Powerstation show in 2013.

He didn't waste time celebrating being back in Los Angeles, judging by his recent Instagram posts.

- nzherald.co.nz