Zayn Malik, formerly of One Direction, has responded to a tweeted invitation from hip=hop artist Tyler the Creator to collaborate with him musically.
Tyler the Creator, whose real name is Tyler Okonma, tweeted to Zayn Malik:
“I have beautiful instrumentals and you have a voice. Let’s figure this out, y guy. Epic album cuts, tho no radio singles.”
Within two days, Malik took Tyler up on his offer.
“Sounds sick, Bro. Let’s do some shit!”
Perhaps Zayn Malik has not communicated with his management or other advisors about this collaboration. Or perhaps he has not heard that Tyler the Creator has a reputation for misogyny and encouraging violence toward women that has preceded him to such a degree that he has been barred from entering Australia.
HI @zaynmalik I HAVE BEAUTIFUL INSTRUMENTALS AND YOU HAVE A VOICE LETS FIGURE THIS OUT MY GUY . EPIC ALBUM CUTS THO NO RADIO SINGLES
— Tyler, The Creator (@fucktyler) August 9, 2015
@fucktyler sounds sick BRO let do some shit !
— zayn (@zaynmalik) August 11, 2015
Last month, Tyler the Creator tweeted to his followers that Coralie Alison, the Director of Operations at Collective Shout, had managed to convince the Australian government to deny Tyler a visa due to his lyrics and other activities that glorify violence against women.
A spokesperson from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection in Australia said that while “the Australian Government supports freedom of speech… the exercise of this freedom involves a responsibility to avoid vilification of, inciting discord in, or representing a danger to, the Australian community.”
“In cases where a person is assessed as representing a risk that they may vilify or incite discord, or otherwise represent a danger to the Australian community, a person may be refused a visa.”
Zayn Malik may find himself running afoul of fans in Australia who have read about the beef between Tyler the Creator and Collective Shout. The organization fought to have the hip-hop artist barred from the country, building a case against him that appears to have convinced the Australian government that he is not someone they want visiting.
Collective Shout said of Zayn Malik’s would-be collaborator:
Tyler the Creator has received widespread media attention over the span of his career for misogynistic hate speech against women, as well as homophobia. He is renowned for his songs advocating rape and extreme violence against women, including murder, genital mutilation, stuffing them into car boots, trapping them in his basement, raping their corpses and burying their bodies.
A characteristic feature of his songs is retribution against women who he perceives have wronged him. For example, he sings about strangling and chopping up women who reject his sexual advances and raping their corpses.
The group listed several examples of Tyler’s lyrics, which seem a far cry from the safe radio-friendly material of One Direction.
“Raquel treat me like my father like a f*ckin’ stranger, She still don’t know I made Sarah to strangle her, Not put her in danger and chop her up in the back of a Wrangler, All because she said no to homecoming.'”
“You’ll be down in earth quicker if you diss me tonight, I just wanna drag your lifeless body to the forest, And fornicate with it but that’s because I’m in love with you…c*nt.”
“F*ck Mary in her ass.. ha-ha.. yo, I tell her it’s my house, give her a tour, In my basement, and keep that bitch locked up in my storage, Rape her and record it, then edit it with more sh*t”
“You already know you’re dead, Ironic cause your lipstick is red, of course, I stuff you in the trunk”
“You call this sh*t rape but I think that rape’s fun, I just got one request, stop breathin”
“I wanna tie her body up and throw her in my basement, Keep her there, so nobody can wonder where her face went, (Tyler, what you doin’?) Shut the f*ck up, You gon’ f*ckin’ love me bitch, Sh*t, I don’t give a f*ck, your family lookin’ for you, wish ’em good luck, Bitch, you tried to play me like a dummy, Now you stuck up in my motherf*ckin’ basement all bloody, And I’m f*ckin’ your dead body, your coochie all cummy, Lookin’ in your dead eyes, what the f*ck you want from me?”
Collective Shout summarized that Tyler the Creator posed a threat to women in Australia and should be barred. Zayn Malik has made no comment on these statements. Nor has he responded to a video that Collective Shout has spread around of a live performance in which Tyler the Creator viciously berated one of their activists, which they say led to death threats against her.
“We draw your attention to a previous Collective Shout campaign in June 2013 calling on the former Minister to revoke Tyler’s visa. As a result of our actions, Talitha Stone, a young activist who led our campaign, was subjected to multiple rape and death threats from Tyler’s fans, with the artist himself inciting violence against her on twitter and at his Sydney (all-ages) concert, where a young woman was also raped.”