Tegan and Sara haven’t held back with their criticism of Tyler The Creator and his band, Odd Future, of late. The two parties have been in a war of words ever since Tegan and Sara first posted on their blog in May, expressing their disgust at the group.
Now, in an interview with Music Feeds, Sara has gone as far as saying that there should be consequences for musicians who make offensive music. She believes the double standards afforded to certain people and situations need to be addressed. She has suggested that musicians should be given penalties similar to those handed out to offensive sports players. When asked about her reasons for her dislike of Odd Future, Sara stated:
I feel encouraged by what has been happening in sports of late. Penalizing and fining athletes and coaches for using hateful slurs sends a very clear message to the public. Why not in the music business?
In May the Canadian Duo posted a statement on their blog:
As journalists and colleagues defend, excuse and congratulate ‘Tyler, the Creator,’ I find it impossible not to comment. In any other industry would I be expected to tolerate, overlook and find deeper meaning in this kid’s sickening rhetoric?
If any of the bands whose records are held in similar esteem as Goblin had lyrics littered with rape fantasies and slurs, would they be labeled hate mongers? I realize I could ask that question of DOZENS of other artists, but is Tyler exempt because people are afraid of the backlash?
Tyler didn’t hold back from baiting the duo either, he then tweeted : If Tegan And Sara Need Some Hard Dick, Hit Me Up!
The debate surrounding Odd Future is an interesting one, while Tyler claims it’s just art and has said:
They don’t listen to the word play, or the patterns we use in the song, or the vocabulary we use. They just look at the word ‘sodomise,’ or ‘rape,’ or ‘bitch’ or some shit, and just go like ‘Oh my god, did you hear what he just said?’ No, did you hear how he said it? The terms he used to say it?.
The groups he speaks of claim the rap group are sexist and racist and should be censored by the media and promoters.
Earlier in the year Odd future taunted anti-domestic violence protesters at Chicago’s Pitchork Festival. The group turned up to the festival to protest against Odd Future being on the bill and were handing out flyers reading ‘Cool It. Don’t Be A Fan Of Violence’. Odd Future began the set playing Bob Marly’s One Love song and Tyler said:
Big shout out to the domestic violence group that’s here; we love you guys.
Odd Future were recently pulled from the New Zealand Big Day Out line-up after a concerned citizen wrote a letter to the Big Day Out organisers stating why he thought Odd Future should not play at the festival.
What do you think?
