Tyler, the Creator believes he has been banned from entering Australia, leading him to suggest that he will not be touring in the country. Though officials have asserted that a decision has not yet been reached on whether or not Tyler will be issued a visa, the rapper clearly thinks that a campaign by Australian feminists to have it rejected has been successful.
“T IS NOW BANNED FROM AUSTRALIA, YOU WON @CoralieAlison IM HAPPY FOR YOU <3,” Tyler tweeted last night. Alison is the Director of Operations for Collective Shout, an Australian grassroots campaigning organization that seeks to challenge, “corporations, advertisers, marketers and media which objectify women and sexualize girls to sell products and services.” Collective Shout has been campaigning to have Tyler’s visa denied on the grounds that he is a Controversial Visa Applicant due to his misogynistic lyrics, and the the fact that he would profit from them by touring in Australia.
Collective Shout has asked the authorities to consider lyrics like “You call this shit rape but I think that rape’s fun, I just got one request, stop breathin” from Blow and “Fuck Mary in her ass.. ha-ha.. yo, I tell her it’s my house, give her a tour, In my basement, and keep that bitch locked up in my storage, Rape her and record it, then edit it with more shit” from French!.
Since Tyler’s tweet last night, Coralie Alison has received rape and death threats from a number of Twitter trolls, which she has been retweeting alongside messages of condemnation in order to bring the abuse to Twitter’s attention. She recently confirmed that she has been contacted by Twitter in Australia and that they are “escalating the reports” of harassment.
It is worth noting that Tyler has, in general, toned down — though not eradicated — the violence against women in his lyrics; those quoted above are from several years ago. When Tyler responded last month to a Reddit user who said they had been a fan but were now “done with” him and his new “happy” lyrics, Tyler said “being hapy [sic] doesn’t mean you have to say it all the time? why not? why can’t i share my joy with the world? ohhh, it was cool when i was raping girls and telling you how sad i was on records, but when shit changes and i’m feeling great and i fuck with myself you can’t deal with it? cause you can’t relate?”.
Credits
Text Charlotte Gush
Photography Brick Stowell