After Theresa May banned the rapper from visiting the UK last year on the basis of “homophobic” song lyrics, Tyler the Creator has hit back with a song implying the ban was racist.
At the Golf Wang fashion show in Los Angeles Tyler debuted a song about Ms. May and his UK ban. Entitled, “My Ego”, he rapped: “Tell Theresa May to let me in / I been going in since 2010 / It gotta be the color of my skin”.
The lyrics slammed Ms. May’s implication that the rapper is a “bad influence”, referencing his “straight edge” lifestyle, which means he doesn’t drink, smoke or do drugs.
Tyler the Creator was stopped last year by a British official while trying to cross from Calais to Dover. They presented him with some of his old lyrics along with a statement which read:
“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 glamourise this behaviour.”
The Home Office documents also said his lyrics “foster hatred with views that seek to provoke others to terrorist acts” and “encourage violence and intolerance of homosexuality”.
The LA-born rapper’s manager, Christian Clancy, admits Tyler’s lyrics have been offensive in the past but criticised the Home Office’s decision. Noting that the rapper hadn’t performed the offending titles live in years, Mr. Clancy wrote: “To say that I am confused would be an understatement. Can you imagine being beholden to things you said when you were 18?”
It seems unlikely that Tyler the Creator was banned from the UK for the colour of his skin. The UK’s Home Office has barred entry to numerous people over the years, often beholden to social justice warriors’ demands. U.S. bloggers Pamela Geller and Dr Robert Spencer were denied entry in 2013. A government spokesman declared a visit by the pair, who warn against Islamic extremism, would not be “conducive to the public good”.
Similarly, Dutch MP Geert Wilders, who called the Quran a “fascist book”, was banned from the country in 2009.
In 2014, 150,000 people signed a feminist petition to bar entry to self-styled U.S. “pick-up artist” Julien Blanc. He was subsequently denied a visa.
The rapper was barred entry to New Zealand in 2014 as he was deemed a potential threat to public order. Officials claim Tyler had incited violence at past performances.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Coming to the UK is a privilege, and we expect those who come here to respect our shared values.”
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