TAYC. The song “Quand tu dors”, taken from his album “Room 96”, was withdrawn by singer Tayc after a controversy born on Twitter.
[Updated February 16, 2023 at 6:02 p.m.] As soon as published, (almost) immediately withdrawn. A few hours after the publication of his album Room 96, a Valentine’s Day surprise, Tayc found himself at the heart of a lively controversy. In question, the words of his song When you sleep, accused by many Internet users of advocating rape. “Okay, imagine something, I’m coming home from work, you see? You’re already sleeping. And rather than waking up (…) I beg you, sleep again, sleep again… Why tell you? ? Why warn? (…) It won’t take any effort from you”, sings the Marseillais in particular. And to continue: “You are so beautiful when you sleep (…) Your lips are closed but I hear your call. I must haunt your sleep. I must consume you. You put on my favorite pajamas. I won’t have much to take away from you. And don’t blame me if I go down.”
A few hours after the publication of this song, in the face of thousands of messages criticizing its lyrics, Tayc posted a first message, to assure “people who would not have understood the meaning of the title”, that at “no time is about intimacy without consent.” Explanations which had earned him a new wave of criticism, prompting Tayc to announce the withdrawal of the song When you sleep. To “rewrite it as it should”, “so that it is much better understood by all”, before “to bring it out in a few days.”
This Thursday, February 16, in a new message posted on Twitter, the artist makes a new Mea culpa: I realize, after having listened to, read your feedback and exchanged with many of you and my relatives, that I had really did not anticipate that it could be understood in this way and convey, despite myself, a message of trivialization of acts and behaviors that I strongly condemn!” Tayc adds that he “asked to have the song removed from the platforms” and apologizes.
As a reminder, according to the Public Service website, “rape is an act of sexual penetration committed with violence, coercion, threat or surprise (in the latter case, the victim is deceived by the ruse of the aggressor)” and “it It is not necessary that there be physical violence to qualify an act of rape. It is enough that the victim did not give his clear and explicit consent.”