Tyler, The Creator used to be the kind of artist to incite riots with ease. His brand of edgy rapping made him one of the hottest young rappers in the world. Moreover, it made his fanbase absolutely rabid. For instance, he was arrested in Austin, Texas back in 2014 for inciting a riot when he commanded fans to essentially bulldoze security guards. Charges would’ve seen the artist born Tyler Okonma go to prison for up to a year.
Eventually, charges were dropped, but his lawlessness was still a big part of his brand. Frankly, the former Home Secretary of the UK didn’t want his antics spreading overseas. Consequently, she decided to ban him from the country completely in 2015, let alone have him perform there.
According to Tyler, The Creator’s manager Christian Clancy, his music was absolutely unacceptable to the country’s standards. “Highlights from the letter include that his work ‘encourages violence and intolerance of homosexuality’ and ‘fosters hatred with views that seek to provoke others to terrorist acts,’” Clancy shared.
Additionally, Theresa May stressed that traveling to the United Kingdom is a privilege. By allowing Tyler to come and perform, it threatens public perception and safety due to his cult of personality.
Tyler, The Creator Used to Be Banned by The Former UK Home Secretary Theresa May
“Coming to the UK is a privilege,” May wrote. “We expect those who come here to respect our shared values. The Home Secretary has the power to exclude an individual if she considers that his or her presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good or if their exclusion is justified on public policy grounds.”
To make matters worse, Tyler, The Creator was personally stopped at the border from entering the country. He called the experience one of the worst days of his life, as a border agent listed off the songs from his mixtape Bastard that explained why he wasn’t allowed to come anymore. In reality, all he’d been doing was showing fans some of his favorite films.
“I just did Amsterdam, and we showed Moonrise Kingdom. In London, we rented out a movie theatre and watched Napoleon Dynamite, then we played a show and had a little pop-up shop. It was really cool. Then me reading [why I couldn’t come to the UK], it was like, ‘Yo? What the hell?’” he told The Guardian.
By February 2019, Theresa May had left her position as Home Secretary, and the ban had been lifted. To celebrate, Tyler, The Creator tried to throw a surprise show. However, “rowdy” fans caused police to shut everything down accordingly. Still, by 2020, he got to bask in his newfound liberty.
“I wanna give a special shout-out to someone who I hold dear to my heart, who made it where I couldn’t come to this country five years ago,” he said in his speech at the 2020 Brit Awards. “I know she’s at home pissed off. Thank you, Theresa May.”
(Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Redferns)
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