After a planned Yungblud gig at a US high school was reportedly cancelled, the singer has responded by saying that he “will be there” regardless.
The Doncaster artist – real name Dominic Harrison – had been booked to perform and take part in a Q&A session at California’s Hanford High School, in conjunction with the school winning a $10,000 (£7,739) music grant.
Now, it has been reported that Hanford High has pulled the appearance over what they say are “concerns about how Yungblud chooses to use his music to deliver his message.”
According to Alt Press, this decision was made amid complaints about the singer’s track ‘Kill Somebody’ in particular, which had been deemed inappropriate for an audience of young students.
A since-deleted post on the school’s Facebook page is said to have explained that they are in the process of seeking “a less controversial artist” to front the event instead.
Yungblud responded to these reports in a video posted to his Twitter profile yesterday (November 26), where he addressed the backlash and promised to play at the school next year.
people are going to judge you, before they even know who you are and what you represent. but don’t let that stop you being who you are. let it be their ignorance. hanford high school i will be there. even if i gotta play outside the fookin gates ? pic.twitter.com/hsZQuhbxs6
— YUNGBLUD (@yungblud) November 26, 2019
“People are going to judge you, before they even know who you are and what you represent,” he captioned the clip.
“But don’t let that stop you being who you are. Let it be their ignorance. hanford high school i will be there. even if i gotta play outside the fookin gates.”
In the video itself, Yungblud called on those who had found ‘Kill Somebody’ to be “insensitive towards gun violence and school shootings” to look into the deeper meaning of the song.
“We are activists against hate, against guns, against gun violence, against school shootings,” he said.
“We are shouting every single day to get closer to making that become totally obsolete. I just ask you, if you don’t know something, please do not judge it on surface level. Please be informed and please learn about things.”
He concluded by telling his fans that he “can’t wait to come and play Hanford”, adding: “I will be there, I love you, I’ll see you soon. Fucking love you so much. Rock ‘n’ roll.”
Yungblud took to Instagram in October last year to explain the meaning behind ‘Kill Somebody’, which appeared on his debut album ‘21st Century Liability’.
“This song is about the darkest place I discovered in my mind,” he wrote. “At first it really scared me. But I learned to talk about it.”
See the full post below.
Yungblud, meanwhile, released the new music video for ‘Die A Little’ earlier this month. The song appears on the latest 13 Reasons Why soundtrack.