Tyler, The Creator says ‘racist’ Swifties are trying to cancel him over old lyrics
Rapper, who recently dethroned Taylor Swift in Spotify’s global Top Artists chart for the first time ever, said he ‘doesn’t give a f***’ about being canceled
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Tyler, The Creator has called out “racist” Taylor Swift fans who he says have tried to cancel him over his old lyrics.
The 33-year-old “See You Again” rapper was performing at a surprise Halloween show in Boston on Wednesday (October 31) to promote his newest album release, Chromakopia, when he made the accusations.
“I got Swifties all mad at me with their racist ass bringing up old lyrics,” Tyler can be heard telling the crowd as he stands on top of a green shipping container with the name of his album displayed in black lettering.
“B**** go listen to ‘Tron Cat,’ I don’t give a f*** hoe,” says, referring to his 2011 song, which includes the controversial lyrics: “Rape a pregnant b**** and tell my friends I had a threesome.”
Tyler added to the crowd on Wednesday: “What the f*** b*****. They gonna bring out the old me.”
It’s unclear why exactly Tyler has been receiving verbal abuse from Swift’s fans; however, one explanation may be that he recently dethroned Swift in the global Spotify Top Artists chart for the first time since the chart launched, according to Chart Data.
On X/Twitter, some Swift fans have pointed to his 2011 song “Fish,” which includes a sexual lyric about him and the “Cruel Summer” singer, calling it “weird and disgusting.”
The Independent has contacted Swift’s representative for comment.
Much of Tyler’s early music includes highly offensive lyrics. In 2015, he was banned from entering the UK for the next three to five years over his songs. “Coming to the UK is a privilege, and we expect those who come here to respect our shared values,” the British Home Office said in a statement at the time.
“I felt like a criminal,” he told The Guardian of being detained at the border. “[A Border Force officer] showed me lyrics from songs … literally, a paper with five lines of lyrics, and four were from Bastard songs and one was from ‘Tron Cat.’
He said the letter barred him from entering the country. “The paper said I couldn’t come at all, saying that I support homophobia and acts of terrorism, and [it said] some other stuff. I’m just like, one, none of that is true, and two, I was here seven weeks ago. I rented out a movie theatre for a show. I did something really awesome, and it was no problem,” he added.
On his new song “Thought I Was Dead” off of Chromakopia, Tyler brushed off cancel culture, rapping: “Pull up old tweets, pull up old t-shirts, all that, I moonwalk over that b****(Hee-hee).”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments