Deny visa for Tyler the Creator: letter to Immigration Minister

The Hon. Mr Peter Dutton MP
Parliament House Ministerial Office
Minister for Immigration and Border Protection

Dear Minister,

We are writing to you regarding visa applicant Tyler Gregory Okonma -stage name ‘Tyler the Creator’- who is due to arrive in Australia for a national music tour September 3.

Australian Immigration Fact Sheet 78 on Controversial Visa Applicants refers to “people whose presence in Australia may, because of their activities, reputation, known record or the cause they represent and propagate, vilify or incite discord in the Australian community or a segment of that community, or represent a danger to the Australian community or a segment of that community.”

We believe the application by Tyler the Creator meets the Department’s definition of ‘Controversial Visa Applicant’. Our views are based on the content of his song lyrics and his behavior during his July 2013 tour.

Tyler the Creator seeks to enter Australia in order to profit from the broadcasting and selling of these lyrics. While his activities are therefore commercial, the content of the product he sells 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.

Tyler the Creator has received widespread media attention over the span of his career for misogynistic hate speech against women, as well as homophobia. He is renowned for his songs advocating rape and extreme violence against women, including murder, genital mutilation, stuffing them into car boots, trapping them in his basement, raping their corpses and burying their bodies.

A characteristic feature of his songs is retribution against women who he perceives have wronged him. For example, he sings about strangling and chopping up women who reject his sexual advances and raping their corpses.

"Raquel treat me like my father like a f*ckin' stranger, She still don't know I made Sarah to strangle her, Not put her in danger and chop her up in the back of a Wrangler, All because she said no to homecoming.'"

“You'll be down in earth quicker if you diss me tonight, I just wanna drag your lifeless body to the forest, And fornicate with it but that’s because I’m in love with you…c*nt.”

Other lyrics include:

"F*ck 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 sh*t”

"You already know you're dead, Ironic cause your lipstick is red, of course, I stuff you in the trunk”

"You call this sh*t rape but I think that rape's fun, I just got one request, stop breathin"

"I wanna tie her body up and throw her in my basement, Keep her there, so nobody can wonder where her face went, (Tyler, what you doin'?) Shut the f*ck up, You gon' f*ckin' love me bitch, Sh*t, I don't give a f*ck, your family lookin' for you, wish 'em good luck, Bitch, you tried to play me like a dummy, Now you stuck up in my motherf*ckin' basement all bloody, And I'm f*ckin' your dead body, your coochie all cummy, Lookin' in your dead eyes, what the f*ck you want from me?”

The messages propogated in these lyrics pose particular risk to the Australian community by conveying the message that interpersonal conflict might be legitimately resolved through violence. Unfortunately this message still enjoys resonance in significant parts of our society which heightens the risk posed to women and children of his entry.

We draw your attention to a previous Collective Shout campaign in June 2013 calling on the former Minister to revoke Tyler’s visa. As a result of our actions, Talitha Stone, a young activist who led our campaign, was subjected to multiple rape and death threats from Tyler’s fans, with the artist himself inciting violence against her on twitter and at his Sydney (all-ages) concert, where a young woman was also raped.

The footage can be viewed on You Tube:

The abuse continues and police have been involved. The incident attracted widespread international media attention and resulted in Twitter implementing a ‘Report Abuse’ button so it could address more quickly online abuse and threats made through its platform.

In January 2014, New Zealand Immigration denied Tyler entry to the country, citing his incitement of violence to Ms Stone at his 2013 Sydney concert as well as inciting crowd to riot at a 2011 concert which left a police officer hospitalized. 

Tyler the Creator is a Controversial Visa Applicant also because of specific conditions that continue to prevail in Australian society. In Australia today, two women are killed each week by an intimate partner. Victoria Police respond to domestic violence calls every ten minutes. In this social context, Tyler’s lyrics pose a particular risk for incitement to violence against women. The manner of the propagation of these lyrics in highly energised, crowded, loud, and technologically staged produced environments makes their threat greater. The fact that concert audiences will be dominated by young men exacerbates the risks.

The Commonwealth Government’s National Plan of Action to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children 2010-2022 notes that violence against women and their children costs the Australian economy around $13.6 billion a year. If prevailing social conditions continue, “an estimated three-quarters of a million Australian women will experience and report violence in the period of 2021-22, costing the Australian economy an estimated $15.6 billion”. 

There are therefore economic grounds to examine Tyler the Creator’s application on the basis of conditions recognised by the Commonwealth Government to cost more in their aggravation.

The National Plan also states that, “While living safe and free from violence is everyone’s right, reducing violence is everyone’s responsibility”. There is further grounds to consider Tyler’s application on the basis of this assertion.

As a society which claims to be serious about eradicating violence against women, there should be no place for singers who glorify misogyny and degrade women for entertainment. Welcoming artist like Tyler sends a message that our leaders don’t really care about stopping the promotion and glorification of violence against women, and that the National Plan exists in word only. 

The artist’s presence here would contradict the Plan, in that his commercial product and behavior undermines the human rights of women and girls and respectful relationships, and impedes attitudinal and behavioural change especially in young people.

It is our view that your Department has failed to conduct due diligence prior to advising you to grant this visa. 

On behalf of women and girls, and all who care about them, we ask that you place the safety of our female citizens before a recording artist with a criminal history, who wants to exploit women for profit and who will contribute to a harmful cultural environment for them. 

We request that you act urgently to revoke Tyler the Creator’s visa so that he cannot promote his misogynistic attitudes here. Please demonstrate that your Government is serious about addressing the scourge of violence against women by taking this action as a matter of urgency.

Further reading:

Read more about Tyler the Creator's last visit to Australia