Cory Bernardi is having an almighty whinge that iconic Australian artists like Darren Hayes and Hilltop Hoods want absolutely nothing to do with him.
Yesterday, the South Australian senator announced his alternative for Triple J’s Hottest 100, for those people who just really wanna celebrate what it means to be a [white] Australian.
Called the Australian Conservative 100 (or #AC100 for short, which just me think it’s a rating of the best air conditioners to beat the summer heat), it’s a hundred-strong list of some certified bangers and a few odd choices. Sure, Cold Chisel‘s ‘Khe Sanh‘ is an absolute choon, but Iggy Azalea‘s ‘Trouble‘? Bizarre, Cory, even for you.
But not every artist was happy about being included. In fact, a few of them were downright pissed off.
“I do not want to be associated with you, your party or your views,” said Darren Hayes, while Hilltop Hoods went with the more direct, “Go fuck yourself, @corybernardi.”
https://twitter.com/darrenhayes/status/953542327326224385
Go fuck yourself @corybernardi.
— Hilltop Hoods (@hilltophoods) January 17, 2018
Bernardi had a good ol’ rant about the backlash to Radio National this morning, claiming these artists should be bloody well grateful he’s honouring them at all.
“Suddenly artists are saying, ‘You’re not allowed to add my songs to your playlist … because I don’t agree with your political views’. This is absurd, it’s outrageous,” he said.
“I want people to listen to great Australian music and I’ve made it easy for them to do so.
“[Artists] can beat it up and complain, they can threaten me with legal action … the simple answer is: take your songs off the streaming service if you don’t want people to play them and support them.”
If anything, the musicians should be grateful to be included on this most exclusive list of Australian artists (and a few Kiwis too, which we assume was a mistake).
“[Darren Hayes] gets a royalty for every time it’s played, he should be thanking us,” he said, telling the singer to “get over yourself” and that “music is for everyone.”
As for Hilltop Hoods, he said he didn’t have to like their politics to “kind of enjoy” their “boppy little songs”.
You heard him, folks. Even Cory Bernardi thinks ‘The Nosebleed Section‘ fucking slaps.
