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Matty Healy of the 1975 apologizes for comments about misogyny in rap: 'I’m sorry if I sounded like the poster boy for both male and white privilege'

Matty Healy, the frontman of the 1975, is apologizing for comments he made about misogyny in hip-hop.

The singer shared a portion of his interview with the Fader, in which he was asked about drugs in the music industry and the overdose death of rapper Lil Peep. His response was: “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 ’n’ roll,” said Healy, who has been candid about his own heroin addiction. “Those things get weeded out the longer those things exist. The reason misogyny doesn’t happen in rock ’n’ roll anymore is because it’s a vocabulary that existed for so long is that it got weeded out. 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’. The scene’s relationship with women hasn’t caught up to its relationship with itself, but that’s something that will happen.”

Matty Healy of the British rock band the 1975 is clarifying some of his comments about misogyny in rock ’n’ roll vs hip-hop. (Photo: Roberto Ricciuti/WireImage)
Matty Healy of the British rock band the 1975 is clarifying some of his comments about misogyny in rock ’n’ roll vs hip-hop. (Photo: Roberto Ricciuti/WireImage)

But in a series of tweets, Healy both apologized — saying the comments, specifically about misogyny in rap “reads as patronizing, uninformed and reductive” — and also claimed to be misquoted.

He clarified that what he said was that “misogyny wasn’t ALLOWED in rock ’n’ roll” today the way it is in hip-hop. Though he said it still exists. He said he failed by trying to simplify a complex issue “without the right amount of education on the subject.” He said that he should never try to “figure stuff out’ in public by talking about it in an interview because he ends up “trivializing the complexities of such enormous, experienced issues.”

Healy later tweeted to clarify that he wasn’t apologizing for the misquoted part.

He also responded to some fan comments about his apology-clarification. To one person who applauded him for owning up to his mistakes, he said was sorry “if I sounded like the poster boy for both male and white privilege.”

The band recently released its third studio album, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships.

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