Thug Life Army

Snoop Dogg has been granted an Australian work permit, despite a petition that had sought to have the U.S. rapper denied entry on account of his misogynistic lyrics.

He'll perform as the No. 3 billed headliner on the touring Big Day Out festival, which starts Jan. 19 on the Gold Coast and visits four more Australian cities. The news will be welcome relief for organizers, who were forced to replace Blur when the Britpop headliners pulled out last November. Though Snoop’s appearance won’t get any positive shout-outs from the Collective Shout group. The women’s organization is behind a petition which has more than 3,500 signatures, the aim of which is to have Snoop's entry-visa yanked.

"Snoop Dogg’s lyrics glorify violence against women,” the organization writes in a letter posted on its Website and targeted at federal immigration minister Scott Morrison. “As a society which claims to be serious about eradicating violence against women,” the letter concludes, “there should be no place for recording artists who glorify misogyny and degrade women for entertainment. Welcoming artists like Snoop Dogg sends a message that we don’t take our obligations to address violence against women seriously.”

Morrison has apparently received the message, which carries the headline, “Revoke pimp rapper Snoop Dogg’s visa.” But he’s told reporters that Snoop “has a visa.”

Collective Shout last year led a separate campaign to have Tyler, the Creator’s visa revoked, claiming his behavior was “creating a hostile environment for women and girls by engaging in vilification.”

Snoop Dogg, who has performed recently as Snoop Lion and Snoopzilla but was born Calvin Broadus, nixed the U.K. leg of a European tour in 2007 when the British government refused him a visa. British officials had refused to budge on an earlier ban placed on Snoop after he and his entourage were involved in a fracas with staff and police at Heathrow Airport in 2006, resulting in numerous arrests.

Source: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/5869850/snoop-dogg-cleared-to-play-australian-tour-despite-protests