Last week, Tyler, the Creator became the subject of a protest from an Australian feminist group named Collective Shout. Ever since he broke into the mainstream, Tyler, the Creator has been embroiled in countless controversies. Due to the content of his music, the Collective Shout group has made moves towards getting him banned from Australia.
Footage of what happened during Tyler, the Creator’s performance leaked to the internet over the weekend. Members of Collective Shout attended one of Tyler, the Creator’s shows during the Australian leg of his tour. Despite getting into it with the protester, the leader of Odd Future says Australia is his favorite place in the world.
Caitlin Roper is a member of Collective Shout and she recently talked to Hip Hop Vibe about Tyler, the Creator. Of course, there is much more to the Collective Shout movement than just protesting Tyler, the Creator. During our interview, Roper spoke on this and what the Collective Shout movement is all about.
Read the entire interview below:
Can you explain what is going on between Collective Shout and Tyler, the Creator? At Collective Shout, we object to Tyler’s sexist, violent, misogynistic message and were stunned that he was being allowed entry into Australia and that venues were willing to host him. We shocked in particular that a number of shows were all ages, meaning even children would be allowed to attend. So once this had been brought to our attention, we devised a strategy of opposing his visa, and lobbying venues to cancel his shows.
How did your organization first learn of him and his music? Collective Shout is a grassroots organisation, made up of a network of supporters who alert us and each other to issues. In this case, a young woman who was aware of Tyler, The Creator’s work reached out to us for support in opposing his Australian shows.
Can you tell us about what happened at the Sydney concert? The day before, Collective Shout activist Talitha Stone, 24, tweeted one of the venues hosting Tyler, critical of them giving him a platform to promote his misogynistic and homophobic hate speech. Tyler retweeted this tweet (meaning he shared it with his 1.7 million followers), prompting an onslaught of abusive tweets, including rape threats.
The next day, Stone attended Tyler’s Sydney concert where Tyler the Creator launched a vicious tirade of abuse aimed at her. The audience cheered in support of Tyler when he called her a “Fucking Bitch”, “Cunt”, “whore”, and rapped about punching a bitch in the face for talking shit.
Were you surprised at all by the reaction from Tyler, the Creator while on stage? Tyler has been renowned for his shock tactics and ‘offensive’ material, but we were surprised as to how far it went, how he singled a young woman out and incited violence against her from onstage. Tyler’s fans have always argued that his themes of rape and violence against women are satirical, even fictional, that Tyler is merely exploring a persona. But his rant against Ms Stone at his Sydney concert indicates that his contempt for women spills out way beyond ‘just’ lyrics.
Why were there Collective Shout members at Tyler, the Creator’s concert? Ms Stone had obtained a ticket at the last minute to see the content of Tyler’s show and gather evidence of vilification or incitement to violence for our campaign to have his visa revoked.
All controversy aside, can you talk more about Collective Shout? Collective Shout’s goal is to expose corporations, advertisers, marketers and media who objectify women and sexualize children to make a profit. We run campaigns to pressure them to change their behavior.
What are some important things to know about the movement? We are a group of people dedicated to making change, bearing in mind the dictum “The standard you walk by is the standard you set.”
Who are other pivotal members in this movement? Collective Shout is a grassroots organisation made up of thousands of people from around the country, women and men of all ages and diverse backgrounds. We are not a ‘top-heavy’ organisation. We empower people to take up their rightful voice in the public square. Often it is our supporters who bring important issues to our attention.
Where can we go to find out more about the work you all are doing? For more information on our campaigns you can visit our website collectiveshout.org. We also have a strong presence on Facebook and Twitter.
