Tyler, the Creator has axed his planned performances in Europe.
The 26-year-old rapper – whose real name is Tyler Gregory Okonma – was due to perform in Hamburg, Cologne, Amsterdam and Frankfurt and several music festivals in Portugal, Spain and Paris this summer, but has left fans disappointed with there currently being no explanation for him pulling out of the concerts at this time.
Taking to Twitter on Sunday evening (07.05.17), he simply wrote: "no more europe tour, sorry, next time (sic)"
The ‘Yonkers’ hitmaker was given a ban from the United Kingdom in 2015 for "three to five years" by Theresa May – who was Foreign Secretary of State at the time – after she accused him of spitting lyrics which "encourage violence and intolerance of homosexuality".
However, he reacted by calling May – who is now Britain’s Prime Minister – racist and alleged that she only issued the ban because of "the colour of my skin", and he wasn’t too impressed that she was elected into power at Westminster.
At the time, he said: "That f***ing sucks. Y’all f***ing up over there."
Tyler said he didn’t feel the need to defend himself because when he wrote the songs when he was just a teenager and had no idea what impact they would have.
On the explicit content, he added: "I was writing those when I was 17 or 18. I didn’t think that what I was doing would matter … I’m not going to apologise for the things I said, because at that time it was cool."
The hip-hop star’s manager Christian Clancy explained the ban and how he was "confused" that the "old lyrics" prevented Tyler from performing in the country.
At the time, Tyler shared: "Tyler has been banned from entering the UK for somewhere between three to five years per a letter from the secretary of state for the home department of the united kingdom.
"The letter specifically cites lyrics he wrote 6-7 years ago for his albums bastard and goblin – the type of lyrics he hasn’t written since … highlights from the letter include that his work ‘encourages violence and intolerance of homosexuality’ and ‘fosters hatred with views thats seek to provoke others to terrorist acts..’
"To say that i am confused would be an understatement. can you imagine being beholden to things you said when you were 18? tyler has been to the UK over 20x in the last 5 years without incident," he continues, referencing a show in the capital "literally last month.
"im not defending his OLD lyrics. to be honest they make me cringe, but i stand beside him because of who he actually IS. (sic)"
A representative for the star is yet to comment.
Tyler the Creator cancels European gigs
