Joshua October, 25, is n R&B singer and rapper from Boston. While on tour, and as a guest at a Norfolk, Virginia Days Inn hotel, he recorded a video of an elderly white male hotel clerk calling him “boy,” and “prison boy” and many expletive-riddled slurs.
The now-viral video led the hotel to fire the unnamed clerk and offer October an apology and a refund.
But October says what he wants is an “end to racism and discrimination.”
“And for those who are afraid, I’m here to scream otherwise. Don’t be afraid or ashamed of who you are! I’m proud of my skin color and all the choices I make. I don’t need approval from anyone! I am so myself and you either with me or against me‼️ its 2019, enough with being racist! And enough with discriminating against others‼️ ? ?????️? ”
October, an “up-and-coming talent,” has opened for Waka Flocka and Machine Gun Kelly.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. In an Expletive-Filled Rant, The Clerk Calls October ‘Boy.’ Then Calls Him ‘Prison Boy’
October, covered in tats and piercings, had a tour date in Virginia Beach on April 18. As he was headed out of the Days Inn hotel for a sound check at the venue, Elevation 27, he grabbed a yogurt from the guest breakfast room. He told new outlets he’d taken a couple of yogurts the day before and was surprised when he was confronted by the front desk clerk who instructed him to put the yogurt back; it was evening and the breakfast room wasn’t open for business.
It’s not clear at what point October began filming because the front desk clerk too had his phone out and appeared to be recording, but the video begins with October asking the man to repeat what he’d said: “You called me ghetto .. I was in prison, what else?”
After fumbling to get his own phone to record, the man calls October what sounds like, “sun-chuk” then “chuk-chuk” before telling October, “Come on, boy. I wanna hear what you gotta say. Come on, prison boy.”
On his Instagram, October wrote that he “dealt with some serious discrimination” and cautioned that the video “is very disturbing and straight disgusts me how an EMPLOYEE with zero hospitality can treat a GUEST in this manner all because of a yogurt.”
And this is October’s account of what occurred.
“I would just like to start off saying I have NEVER in my life at any establishment been treated the way I was two nights ago by a working employee here at the @Daysinn Hotel 5701 Chambers Street, Norfolk Virginia 23502. I was beyond blatantly disrespected as a paying guest. The whole reason for his verbal attack on me was all because I went inside the guest breakfast room and took a yogurt (which WAS FREE and there was no sign stating guests are not allowed to take a yogurt). I HOPE people will share this video and tag everyone and anyone because this hate is NOT OK!”
2. ‘Look at Ya. You Look Like Something That Come Off a Damn Trash Pile’
In the video, the employee, who Days Inn confirmed was fired, proceeds to berate October.
“Good old prison boy, here. Look at prison boy! Look at that little fuc*ing dumbass haircut he’s got, looks like a fuc*ing mop. Look at that, looks like a fuc*ing mop. Look at that. Look at all that shit all over his face. You can’t even see his fuc*ing face for all the shit. Look at him.”
October narrates and says he’s been staying at the hotel as a guest for two nights: “Look at how he treats a customer.”
Then clerk than begins to laugh: “I think you better leave before you get yourself in trouble, son.”
October tells the clerk he’ll lose his job over the way he’s treated a customer when the video goes viral. The employee, who has not yet been named, repeatedly says he does not care about the job and regardless, “I’m not gonna lose this job over you. Now get the fu*k out of here. Bye. You better get out before I call the cops.”
October asks him to “please do.” The employee picks up the phone and describes October as a “little fuc*ing street punk, that’s all he is.” October shows his room key on camera.
“He ain’t nothing to me. He’s nothing. He’s always been nothing. He’ll always be nothing.”
October says, “I don’t know him,” referencing the man’s claim that October has “always been nothing,” which may be interpreted by some that the employee knows October.
October asks what the man’s name is. He replies “Cujo.” He proceeds to berate October saying he’s “not a customer, you’re just a little street punk …that’s all you’ll ever be …” who looks to have come “off a trash pile.”
Days Inn owner Wyndham Hotels and Resorts provided Yahoo with a statement that reads in part, “The comments made by this individual are deeply troubling and are in no way reflective of our brand values …”
The company then confirmed that the “individual in question is no longer an employee of the hotel.”
And said it would issue October “a full refund from the hotel along with additional compensation as a goodwill gesture on behalf of the brand.”
3. October Says He’s ‘Proud of My Skin Color’ & Urges People to Not be ‘Afraid or Ashamed of Who You Are’
After media called attention to the incident, October took to social media again to say thanks you and to share his determination to “…stand for the people who choose to stand out and be different in their own ways.”
“And for those who are afraid, I’m here to scream otherwise. Don’t be afraid or ashamed of who you are! I’m proud of my skin color and all the choices I make. I don’t need approval from anyone! I am so myself and you either with me or against me‼️ its 2019, enough with being racist! And enough with discriminating against others‼️ ? ?????️?”
4. Grinding for Years, October is on Myriad Music Sites & Tours Regularly
An R&B singer and hip-hop artist, his SoundCloud, albeit with a small follower count, has tracks with thousands, and in some cases, tens of thousands of likes and listens.
On Instagram, he has 14,000 followers.
His recent tour took him from Phoenix to Houston to Atlanta to Virginia Beach.
5. With Several Albums Under His Belt, He’s Opened For Rappers & Pop Music Artists Including Waka Flocka Flame & Machine Gun Kelly
October has opened for, or played with, Aaron Carter, Waka Flocka, Post Malone, B.O.B., Bryan Angle, pop artist Joelle Ashley, Machine Gun Kelly, Montana of 300, and others.
The post is of October with Aaron Carter at Toad’s Place, a New Haven, Connecticut nightclub, part of the ‘Love’ tour.
October describes himself on his website as “a well-known, independent versatile/high energy music artist from Boston, MA who has opened up for industry artists such as: Aaron Carter, Waka Flocka, August Alsina, Machine Gun Kelly, B.O.B. and so many more.”
“Recognized internationally, in 2016 Joshua toured as far as Hong Kong! And in 2018 he toured with Day26, Winners of P. Diddy’s Making the Band: Season 4 on MTV and former Badboy records artists. Joshua continues to make noise in the music industry shaking the game up and running over anyone that gets in his way!”