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Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke on recent racist and homophobic comments: “I don’t think me being visible means that I need to be subject to abuse”
Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke says he has received racist and homophobic comments online after a promotional clip for the band’s song “Pigwig” attracted a wave of abuse. He says being publicly visible as a brown man leading an indie band should not make him a target, while distinguishing abuse from ordinary criticism of his music.
Okereke said his management told him they were working overtime to remove comments, and that the response was unlike anything he had experienced before. The personal lyrics on Bloc Party’s latest album, *Anatomy Of A Brief Romance*, may have contributed to the hostility, he said. “Pigwig” was the album’s fourth single; the band is now on a UK and European co-headline tour with Interpol.
In short
- Kele Okereke says a “Pigwig” promo clip drew racist and homophobic abuse.
- He says visibility should not make him subject to abuse.
- Bloc Party are touring the UK and Europe with Interpol.