We were only a matter of months away from seeing rapper Tyler, The Creator in Australia but now a dark cloud of uncertainty has been cast over those plans.
The September tour was placed under scrutiny last month by activist group Collective Shout who started a petition urging immigration Minister Peter Dutton to stop Tyler from coming to the country because his lyrics advocate, “rape and extreme violence against women,” as co-founder Melinda Tankard Reist told 3AW.
Now it looks as if the petition has been successful. “T IS NOW BANNED FROM AUSTRALIA, YOU WON @CoralieAlison IM HAPPY FOR YOU Collective Shout contacted triple j urging the station to stop supporting the rapper. “How can Australia, and ABC’s Triple J continue to support someone who encourages violence at his shows?” they wrote.
triple j responded defending their decision to play Tyler. “We acknowledge that Tyler is divisive, but he is a celebrated artist of which a fair proportion of our audience, both men and women, are fans,” they wrote.
Collective Shout’s campaign started after Tyler’s 2013 tour when activist Talitha Stone was verbally abused by Tyler after she criticised the rapper’s lyrics on Twitter – a comment he retweeted to 1.7 million followers.
Stone later told The Guardian that at his show in Sydney, Tyler dedicated the track Bitch Suck Dick to her. “Fucking bitch, I wish she could hear me call her a bitch, too, fucking whore. Yeah, I got a sold-out show right now bitch. Hey this fucking song is dedicated to you, you fucking cunt,” he reportedly also told the crowd. View footage of that incident, here.
It kickstarted the campaign against Tyler and his lyrics which they labelled misogynistic. In January 2014, New Zealand Immigration blocked his entry into the country as a result.
At this point the cancellation of Tyler’s September tour is still yet to be confirmed. Music Feeds has reached out to promoters for confirmation.
UPDATE 28/07/15: Promoter’s Frontier Touring have denied reports that the rapper has been refused a visa into the country, but have advised Music Feeds that the department for immigration has “raised issues” with his visa application.
UPDATE 30/07/15:Tyler, The Creator has denied responsibility for his fans vile online attacks against Coralie Alison.
UPDATE 10/08/15: Tyler, The Creator’s Australia tour has been officially cancelled.
T IS NOW BANNED FROM AUSTRALIA, YOU WON @CoralieAlison IM HAPPY FOR YOU <3
— T (@tylerthecreator) July 27, 2015
*PLAYS SMUCKERS VERSE* *SAD FACE* *GOLDENGAYTIME* MELBOURNE WAS MY FAVORITE PLACE AND TRIPLE J IS LIKE THE ONLY RADIO STATION THAT PLAYS ME
— T (@tylerthecreator) July 27, 2015
https://twitter.com/CollectiveShout/status/625790832218542081
