Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes Says Magazine ‘Censored’ Interview With Julian Casablancas

The Strokes and Voidz frontman Julian Casablancas and Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes have performed together in the past, and now for their latest collaboration, the two artists interviewed each other for Oyster magazine. During their conversation, Casablancas and Hynes discussed everything from their work and creative processes to Rocky and Smash Mouth. Now, Hynes has posted a blog accusing Oyster of unfairly editing the interview against the artists’ express wishes.

In the interview, Casablancas and Hynes spoke at length about their encounters with racism. Hynes specifically asked Casablancas about his experiences in regards to his Ghana-born stepfather, Sam Adoquei.

“I mean, directed at me personally because of Sam, not really in New York,” Casablancas said. “There is subtle racism. Like I said, I couldn't imagine the s--- that he has to deal with in every situation.”

In turn, Hynes opened up about being arrested in Miami:

I got illegally arrested in Miami, like, two years ago. They busted some club for not having a liquor license, but I was outside, I wasn't inside. And they were going inside and wouldn't let people in. I was kind of doing what I'm doing now, but back then I would do solo Blood Orange shows. And I was like, "Oh, my stuff is inside and I just need to go get it" and there was this one, you know, one cop who was a dick and he said, "No. Not going to happen." And I was like "Oh, can you tell me, like, how long?" And he was like "No." and then these two Miami white girls walked up and are like, "We really need to use the bathroom!" And he was like "Yeah go right in ladies." I was full mouth-to-the-floor like, "What!" So I went up again. I said "Look man, I need to get my stuff and I'm just gonna, like, leave. I have a flight back to New York in the morning." And he was like "That's it!" Hand cuffed me around the back, threw me in the back of the car and then left me in the car for four hours and I couldn't do anything. And at one point — this is the scary moment — an officer came and opened the door and bent down to me and was like, "Hey man, it's probably best if you just don't say anything and, um, it should be cool," and closes that door. And I was thinking "What?! That doesn't make me feel good! You're telling me to be quiet because the guy you work with is insane? What the fuck!?" It was so crazy.

Now, in a post to his blog, Hynes says the two artists gave Oyster permission to publish the interview under the promise that the magazine would not edit their conversation. However, Hynes claims the publication “fully edited and censored it without telling us” and removed “everything to do with race and my past that I discussed.” Hynes called it "very disheartening":

Oyster Magazine.
End of last year Julian and I had a conversation for a magazine (that I don’t need to name) in which we openly had a conversation for an hour, talking about music, racial politics and our past. This magazine in question didn’t want to put the interview out without it being edited… fair enough. So we took it elsewhere.
Oyster magazine agreed to post it un edited.
They just posted the interview, I don’t know who it was involved, magazine, publicist… so i won’t fully point blame in any true direction right now… but they fully edited and censored it without telling us. Cutting out everything to do with race and my past that I discussed, which was not easy for me to do. Why? So they can have another bullshit piece to add to the noise of the internet? Keep us talking about prince & MJ, of course… but lets take out the section about the million man march… Let’s keep the section talking about first bands we played in… but take out the part where i talk in detail about being assaulted by security and having my knee knocked out of place at Lollapalooza.

Read Hynes’ full post at this location.