Tyler, The Creator has just been announced as one of the headliners for this year’s Splendour In The Grass festival following his Wildlands, Beyond the Valley, Origin Fields and Field Day appearances earlier this year.
Speaking of ionic, American rappers, we had a chat about Lil Nas X and his potential Wiggles collab on this episode of It’s Been A Big Day For…
But while he’s back again touring on our shores, we can’t help but reminisce on the time that he claimed he was “banned” from entering the country. Allow us to take you back.
Tyler Announces Cherry Bomb Australian Tour
In the first half of 2015, Tyler, The Creator announced that he was coming to Australia in just a few months time. The album that backed the tour, Cherry Bomb, featured Kanye West, Schoolboy Q, Pharrell Williams and Lil Wayne, so naturally, the hype was high. That was, until the controversy started.
Collective Shout Campaign Against Tyler
Collective Shout had been advocating against Tyler, the Creator since 2013. As such, when news of this new tour surfaced, the group penned an open letter to the Immigration Minister, asking to “Deny visa for Tyler the Creator.” They called his lyrics “misogynistic” and said: “While (Tyler’s) activities are therefore commercial, the content of the product… propagates discriminatory ideas about women and other groups, and represent a danger to a segment of the Australian community on the potential basis of incitement to acts of hatred.” The open letter attracted 1600 signatures. Tyler then spoke up.
Tyler Announces He’s Banned From Australia
After this Collective Shout campaign started to do the rounds in the Australian media-sphere, word got to Tyler. On the 28th of July, the rapper/singer took to Twitter to make a sarcastic announcement.
This Tweet ultimately did two things. Firstly, it sparked a whole bunch of Tyler fans to cyberbully the Collective Shout member in question. But, secondly, it got everyone to question when their refunds were coming. Because the tour hadn’t been cancelled.
Frontier Touring Discount His Claims
Following Tyler’s tweet, Frontier Touring issued a statement saying, “With respect to media reports that Tyler, The Creator’s visa has been refused, Frontier would like to advise that this is not the case… The department for immigration has raised issues with the visa application but it has not been refused and Frontier will update ticket holders as soon as more information comes to hand”. But then, weeks later, the tour was officially cancelled.
Collective Shout Want Tyler To Make Amends
So no, Tyler wasn’t “banned” from coming to Australia, but it did seem that he pulled out as a result of the efforts from the Collective Shout. As news of his 2019 Aussie shows surfaced, the Collective Shout pressured Tyler to issue a formal apology for the damage that his fans had done. He has not responded.
What a saga.
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