The 1975's Matty Healy says "misogyny doesn’t happen in rock and roll anymore"
5 December 2018, 19:59
Matty has since apologised for the comments he made about rock and roll and hip-hop in a recent The Fader interview...
The 1975 are having an incredible 2018. After ending the I like it when you sleep for you are so beautiful, yet so unaware of it era back in early 2017, Matty and the boys began work on their current Music for Cars era. The band returned this May with 'Give Yourself a Try' and since then have released four more critically acclaimed singles and their critically acclaimed third studio album A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships.
21 memes about The 1975's 'A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships' that will make you howl
It wouldn't be a The 1975 era without promo though and, since the LP dropped last Friday, Matty has been doing interviews left right and centre in support of the project. For the most part they've been well received by fans but one The Fader profile has come under fire for a particular quote. In it, Matty claims that "misogyny doesn’t happen in rock and roll anymore" and the internet is dragging him for it.
Discussing drugs in music, Matty said: "One of the problems is the youth of hip-hop. At the moment, with SoundCloud rap, it's become a bit of a drug-taking competition, and that happened in rock and roll. Those things get weeded out the longer those things exist. The reason misogyny doesn't happen in rock and roll anymore is because it's a vocabulary that existed for so long is that it got weeded out."
Matty then goes on to add: "It still exists in hip-hop because [the genre] is so young, but it'll stop. That's why you have this moment with young black men — Kanye-aged men, as well — talking about their relationship with themselves, which is a big step forward for hip-hop. Drake, for example. But then they'll be like, "But I still got bitches." Unsurprisingly, people aren't here for it.
First of all, while hip-hop still has issues with misogyny, so does every genre, and rock and roll certainly is still guilty of it. It doesn't take much research to realise that female artists and female music critics are rarely given the respect of their male counterparts and still use misogynistic language. Suggesting it's more progressive than hip-hop is not only ignorant but racially coded.
Naturally, the internet has been schooling Matty since. Here are just a few of the reactions.
It all started with perhaps the most brutal take.
ur pale king https://t.co/XITuXW6cfP pic.twitter.com/98dH4bbZ2B
— rawiya kameir (@rawiya) December 4, 2018
Yikes.
Then the rest of Twitter got involved.
there is so much wrong w this but pls tell me how matty healy can think misogyny doesn't exist in rock https://t.co/gGuqmqC3Yw
— marianne (@marianne_eloise) December 5, 2018
I love Matty Healy but suggesting that misogyny is only a hip-hop issue is a really big, racially coded no https://t.co/TkpWtIV4Rj
— Jenessa Williams (@jnessr) December 5, 2018
the twotime video made me feel included, something i’ve never really felt from the indie music scene. but to see matty say ‘misogyny doesn’t happen in rock and roll anymore’ has really put me off. was fully loving the new album as well :(
— staf (@stxfii) December 5, 2018
Holy hell. We been knew that I love Matty more than anything but who the hell allowed him to say let alone THINK something as ridiculous as “misogyny doesn’t happen in rock and roll” I’m calling the police https://t.co/1QdVndRSx8
— maegan noelle (@maegannoelle) December 5, 2018
No comment.
Matty has since apologised for his comments in a thread on Twitter.
What I said isn’t correct. And it’s not all a misquote. Just for clarity I said that misogyny wasn’t ALLOWED in rock and roll now days in a way it is in hip hop - not that it doesn’t exist, that’s maybe a misquote as I’m aware of the misogyny in rocknroll...
— matty (@Truman_Black) December 5, 2018
. BUT now looking at what I said - I was simplifying a complex issue without the right amount of education on the subject
— matty (@Truman_Black) December 5, 2018
So basically, I’m sorry for saying that as I was wrong. And thanks for pointing it out cos if I’m gonna do this I have to keep learning.
— matty (@Truman_Black) December 5, 2018
I’m apologising for the fact my words could INSINUATE that misogyny in culture and music is an exclusively hip hop (black) issue. I do not believe that. What I believe is that I’m not educated enough to speak on THAT properly and a big part of that is this white dick that I have
— matty (@Truman_Black) December 5, 2018