April 1, 2026
Black-Owned Lounge Cancels Kansas City Opening Amid Backlash Over Its Name
The decision follows backlash from local residents who criticized the venue’s name and called on developers to intervene.
Plans for a Black‑owned lounge in Kansas City have been abruptly scrapped following controversy over its name, Sundown Hifi— a reference to the racist “sundown towns” where Black people faced threats and violence or death if they were found there after dark.
The proposed club, created by musician Casio McCombs, was a years-in-the-making project. The DJ says he carefully designed every part of the venue, from its music and aesthetic to its name. McCombs explains that while he recognizes the word’s origin, his aim was to reclaim it and give it a new meaning.
“Ultimately, Sundown is about transition, release, and presence. It is about what happens when the lights dim, the music takes over, and the people come together at the end of the day. That meaning is intentional, considered, and deeply aligned with the experience we are creating,” McCombs wrote in an Instagram post.
The venue was set to open in the city’s waterfront Current Landing district, home to the Kansas City (KC) Current Landing soccer field. The KC Current’s official supporters, the KC Blue Crew, strongly opposed the club and took to social media to urge developers to change the lounge’s name.
“The use of the name ‘Sundown’ for a dance club is not only racist, but incredibly insensitive to the history of the area in which this team resides,” the post said. “Missouri has had a particularly violent history of sundown towns, so it is especially disturbing for a team located in Missouri to choose to name a nightclub establishment for people to gather at on its grounds, after dark, Sundown Lounge.”
The budding restaurateur responded with his own Instagram post, noting that he is from the community directly affected by the culture of Sundown towns.
“The concern being raised is about avoiding potential harm to a community, yet the outcome of that concern is the stifling of a creative expression coming directly from someone within that very community. That is a difficult contradiction to sit with,” the entrepreneur wrote.
However, three days later, McCombs announced that Sundown HiFi would no longer open in Current Landing. The DJ did not specify whether the venue will reopen under a new name or in a different location.
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