Tyler, The Creator recently had to cancel tour dates in the UK after being banned over his lyrics, and the West Coast emcee feels like he's being treated like a terrorist. Official documents from the UK government, which were obtained by The Guardian, directly address Tyler while telling him exact details of his banishment.
"Your albums Bastard, in 2009, and Goblin, in 2011, are based on the premise of your adopting a mentally unstable alter ego who describes violent physical abuse, rape and murder in graphic terms which appears to glamorize this behavior."
When asked about his thoughts on the situation, Tyler told The Guardian that some of the songs listed in the statement were written when he was a kid.
"Now [the UK government] are just followers. Everyone is a follower, just following what other countries are doing. Now I'm getting treated like a terrorist. I'm bummed out because it's like, dude, I'm not homophobic. I've said this since the beginning. The 'hating women' thing – it's so nuts. It's based on things I made when I was super-young, when no one was listening [to my music]. Like, I wrote 'Blow' when I was reading about different people in American history. One of the people happened to be [the serial killer] Ted Bundy, and I wrote a song from his point of view."
The "Yonkers" emcee also pointed out that it was clear the UK government did their research on his songs and saw that they are written from the point of view of an alter-ego. He added, "I'm not like this! You could watch any interview and see my personality, see the guy I am. I wouldn't hurt a fly."
While it may seem that Tyler is being singled out for his art, the Odd Future frontman believes that his banishment opens the door for it to happen to other artists.
"When the Australia thing happened, I was like, 'Wow, OK.' Then the UK thing happened, and it's like: 'OK, this is not funny any more – this is actually wrong, from a moral standpoint. Now [threats against] freedom of art and speech are at hand. And because of this, it's opening a door for anyone to be banned."
Source: The Guardian
