On August 26, 2015, rapper Tyler, The Creator revealed that he’d been banned from the UK for three to five years based on lyrics from his early work, as well as the recent protests by Australian activist groups in response to his misogynist lyrics and “violent” onstage behavior. As I’m sitting in the dark listening to “Smuckers,” a track released this year from this same “violent” artist, I’m deeply confused and even more unsettled.
“Put that f------ cow on my level / cause I’m raising the stakes / Mom I made you a promise / It’s no more section 8 / When we ate it’s the steaks / Now our section is great / Cause that’s the level I’m at / My n----- pass ‘em a plate!”

Tyler is an incredibly young and incredibly talented artist who, on 2015’s Cherry Bomb, delivers blown-out production and some keen insight on the black identity in today’s social sphere- he places emphasis on the fact that rising out of socio-economic hardship through music is as much a source of creative and professional energy for the young black teen with a dream today as it was back in the day. He dares people to question the “slave in [him]” through analysis of his angry, unfiltered lyrics, even if that means putting aside our sensitive nature as listeners for the sake of interpreting and appreciating art.

But instead of a dialogue being opened around Tyler’s outspoken nature, the conversation is swept under the rug and dismissed as “offensive.” While being offended is a fair reaction to art, it is the reason free speech exists. We wouldn’t need the first amendment if the only art and public speech we had to consume were politically correct, or more universally accepted.

Of course, we are dealing with the United Kingdom here, which has rights to enforce laws and protections as it so pleases. America is not the enforcer for anyone besides itself. However, the online reactions I’ve seen towards the ban have driven a wedge between the activists I follow, myself, and what I thought was the liberal opinion.
The particular lyrics to come under fire by the UK government were from Tyler’s 2009 mixtape, Bastard, which was infamous for its use of violent, misogynistic, and homophobic language- but this isn’t anything we haven’t seen before from rap acts like Eminem and old school hip hop groups like NWA. But because it’s 2015 and we live in an increasingly PC world, Tyler’s early behavior is inexcusable to the point of visa suspension.

Tyler went on record in The Guardian to defend himself by saying he was being attacked for songs he “made when [he] was super-young, when no one was listening.” And maybe that doesn’t make it okay. But consider how often we come across an unearthed tweet from a celebrity musician before they achieved their level of fame- Iggy Azalea’s string of insensitive tweets (she declared an Asian woman on an airplane was “gone know English today” because “that’s [her] seat”, labelled men whispering in each other’s ears as “homo” … you know the drill), SZA’s denouncement of gay black men (she considers not having children unless she can “genetically engineer a girl”), or Halsey informing the public she looked like a “hot trani mess” after getting her makeup done. These always cause significant disruptions in the pop culture world, and place artists and fans at odds with one another because of the time capsule and personal diary that Twitter has provided everyone with use of.
The backlash hits, and the string of apology tweets and public statements always read the same way: these people were young and confused and hadn’t had time to grow to know and love people they weren’t familiar with, or in Halsey’s case, went on to become loud and proud activists for those same people. They weren’t thinking about their public influence because they didn’t have any. Tyler, at the time of Bastard’s release, did not have to think about how his wordplay would impact people- because he was still “in section 8.” Think of what we’d be left with if we held every artist equally accountable for every word they’d ever uttered and refused to allow them to grow as humans, artists, and activists. Musicians- the artists we idolize and make integral parts of our lives- are people just like us. There is literally no chance that every single one of us was raised to be socially and politically woke- we discovered this ourselves as we gradually became members of our global community. All people, in or out of the public eye, are growing and changing their views and opinions constantly and it’s incredibly unfair to deny an artist the chance to change. And the worst part is, Tyler already has. We’ve watched him grow into a fully formed human and artist since ‘09, who lives by his own set of rules. As much as my LGBT activist self can’t help but cringe at his casual use of the F-word, I recognize that this is his art and perspective and I would feel robbed of everything if I were not allowed mine.

We regulate each other as we create. The art world is a model of our political system- those in power (those in the public eye) create, and those without the world watching react accordingly- offense, appreciation, critique. This is how it’s always been. You are entitled to your right to be offended, just as Tyler is entitled to his right to offend.

The reactionary attacks on Tyler and those like him are natural human responses. We see something we don’t like, and we want to make it go away. Unfortunately, refusing to face controversial ideas head-on doesn’t ever really make them go away. America- especially the young American liberals that I identify with- are deeply passionate about minority rights and it fills me with so much hope for the future when we show a united front against transphobia, racism, homophobia, and more. But when we’re confronted with a minority view or voice that isn’t perfectly aligned with our values, we cannot choose to simply censor it. We don’t have to agree- but we do have to be that united force to educate and to change- not to chase those people into their old, ignorant perspectives that made them feel comfortable. As easy as it is to point fingers, we all have arrogance, and ignorance in us. Before you react, put your feelings aside, and just listen.