Black-owned club won’t open in KC’s Current Landing after outcry over name
A Black-owned hi-fi lounge will no longer open at Current Landing after controversy arose over its name this past weekend.
Sundown HiFi, a venture led by Kansas City mucisian and DJ Casio McCombs, was a project years in the making, according to him. Everything from the name to the music and aesthetic was carefully curated, he said.
“What’s lost here isn’t just a business. It’s a cultural contribution,” McCombs said in an Instagram post Monday. “It’s a space that could have expanded what Kansas City looks and feels like. It’s a missed opportunity to support something intentional, thoughtful and rooted in lived experience.”
KC Current’s official supporters group, known as the KC Blue Crew, posted a statement on Instagram over the weekend calling for KC Current Leadership and Palmer Square Real Estate Management to change the name of Sundown HiFi and announce how they will bring to light the rich accomplishments of KC’s African American community instead of racist history.
“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 chose to name a night club establishment for people to gather at on its grounds, after dark, Sundown Lounge.”
But McCombs explained on Instagram the reasoning behind Sundown doesn’t come with racist intentions. Originally from the South, McCombs understands the history behind the phrase in particular “sundown town” and “sundown” in certain contexts, but argued history shouldn’t permanently taint language that describes a universal human experience.
“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,” McCombs said in a post over the weekend in response to the backlash.
The name of the business, according to McCombs, was inspired by the universal gathering that happens toward the end of the day, when people come together to eat, talk, listen and tell stories.
“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 originally said over the weekend in response to the backlash.
On Monday however, McCombs announced on Instagram that Sundown HiFi will no longer be coming to Current Landing. It was a concept he said he came up with intention for the community after spending over a decade investing himself in KC.
“Selling drinks alone has never been enough. Sundown HiFi was designed to be layered: An intersection of sound, architecture, culture and story. Every detail was considered: the aesthetic, the function, the experience and yes, the name,” McCombs said in the post.
Black ownership in KC hospitality space is already low, he added. The project was more than a bar, it was about representation, creating space and reclamation. It was not going to ignore history, but confront it. A concept, he said, that was not widely understood or accepted by many who claim to value equity and inclusion.
“But it’s clear that the concept of reclamation is not widely understood, or accepted, by many of the same people who claim to value equity and inclusion,” McCombs said in an Instagram post Monday. “And in that disconnect, the project lost its footing. In less than 72 hours, a concept I spent years developing was reduced, misinterpreted and ultimately stripped away — largely by voices outside the community it was meant to represent.”
The Star reached out to McCombs for comment, but did not hear back Tuesday. It’s not clear if Sundown will move to a different location, or if McCombs steps away from the project entirely. It is also unclear who made the decision for Sundown HiFi not to open.
“I’m proud of what Sundown HiFi was meant to be. And I’m grateful to the Current Landing team for seeing the vision and championing it,” McCombs said. “But this moment should raise a larger question for Kansas City: what kind of creativity are we actually willing to support — and who do we allow to shape it?”
Palmer Square Real Estate Management did not respond to The Star’s request for comment. KC Current leadership did not comment to The Star.
At the end of the KC Blue Crew’s post, the group added they would not be silent about matters related to racism. They have not posted again since the announcement of Sundown’s latest development.
“Once again, Blue Crew rejects any and all racist efforts, not just in soccer, but in our society. We love our team, our city, and our neighbors too much to remain silent on this,” the post said.
This story was originally published March 31, 2026 at 12:05 PM.
