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Odd Future banned from New Zealand (again)

By | Published on Friday 14 February 2014

Odd Future

Odd Future have been stopped from performing in New Zealand for a second time. Immigration authorities in the country have blocked the hip hop group from entering the country for their support slot at an Eminem show this weekend, claiming that they are a “threat to public order”.

As previously reported, last time Odd Future came up against authorities in the country, it was Auckland City Council, which blocked the group from performing at the New Zealand leg of the 2011 Big Day Out touring festival. Campaigners put pressure on the council, which owned the site where the festival took place, over the group’s homophobic lyrics.

In a statement, New Zealand’s immigration department said of the latest ban: “Odd Future has been deemed to be a potential threat to public order and the public interest for several reasons, including incidents at past performances in which they have incited violence”.

Commenting on Twitter, Odd Future frontman Tyler, The Creator said: “OF is banned from New Zealand, again. They said we were ‘terrorist threats and bad for the society’ or whatever. Sick. They are anti golf. I love NZ though.

He added later: “Seriously, if I wasn’t able to go back to Waterloo or Fitzroy [ever] I would actually lose my mind. I’m not angry though, but the irony is that we can’t get in to open for Eminem. Hahahaha, like he didn’t make ‘Kill You’ or ‘Kim’, hahahahahaha”.

Discussing the matter further, Border Operations Manager Karen Unwin added that the band’s lyrics had not been taken into consideration in the matter. In fact, it was seemingly based largely on an incident at a show in Boston in 2011, when the group allegedly told their audience to attack police officers. Unwin told Radio New Zealand: “It’s not a decision we take lightly and not one that happens often. If we banned people who used swear words, we wouldn’t have many people left in New Zealand”.

The fact that she thought this was just about swear words would seem to prove that border control really didn’t look at Odd Future’s lyrics. If you want to sample some of those lyrics for yourself, Odd Future will be touring the UK next month. Full dates here.



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