Why 'don't like it, don't listen' isn't enough: Caitlin Roper writes about Tyler the Creator for SMH

Caitlin Roper writes about the campaign against Tyler the Creator for the Sydney Morning Herald

My colleagues and I are not incredibly popular in certain circles right now.

At campaigning movement Collective Shout, we have incurred the wrath of thousands of fans of American rapper Tyler the Creator. Our campaign resulted in his tour being cancelled.

As an organisation campaigning against the objectification of women, we opposed Tyler the Creator's sexually violent lyrics. But why? Because they detailed rape, strangling, mutilating and chopping up women, stuffing their bodies into car boots, trapping them in his basement and raping their corpses.

We appealed to Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to deny Tyler a visa on the basis that "the content of the product he sells propagates discriminatory ideas about women and other groups, and represents a danger to a segment of the Australian community on the potential basis of incitement to acts of hatred."

It's a long story spanning over two years. Highlights include Tyler launching a tirade of abuse against one of our activists at his 2013 Sydney concert as the crowd cheered (see the footage here) and singling out our Director Coralie Alison on Twitter last week. He set his 2.5 million fans on her and they promptly took up the call, targeting her with vicious threats and abuse. Here is what she endured (warning, graphic content) over just a five-minute period - and it's still going on.

This week matters came to a head when Frontier Touring issued a statement that Tyler the Creator's Australian tour had been cancelled, with Tyler saying, "We would much rather come to Australia when it isn't surrounded in controversy."

As Tyler seems to thrive on controversy, this statement is implausible to us. We believe that Tyler's promoters sensed he was fighting a losing battle and decided to strike first. They might have sensed the possibility the Australian government would follow the New Zealand government in withholding an entry visa to their star. Read full article here.