For weeks Tyrese has been blasting white radio stations for not playing his song “Shame,” even though it is at the top of the charts.
Yesterday as part of his campaign, he led a protest outside iHeartRadio in Burbank, California, drawing the attentions of hundreds of fans as also police.
“I heard that there are a few folks in this event, from iHeart, that haven’t heard the song ‘Shame,’”Tyrese said. “They ain’t supporting it on mainstream radio so I’m just coming to perform for free.”
Police came to the scene because the protest was holding up traffic, and after a warning, Tyrese was cited for blocking traffic.
Tyrese later turned to Instagram to express his frustration on police breaking up his free concert.
“Look at my last 8 post about what happened today… 8 police cars and 4 motorcycle cars later – R&B going #Mainstream must be a REAL THREAT – I fear no man but GOD and my position won’t change – thank you to the 80+ multi ethnic fans for showing up – there’s power in numbers – #RnBSOULDIERS I FREAKIN LOVE YOU!!!!! #BlackRoseMission”
Last week Gibson, called out mainstream radio stations for only playing R&B when it’s performed by white artist.
“When I think about Sam Smith, Robin Thicke, Justin Timberlake — when they’re singing R&B soul, their songs are being played on all formats of radio, including urban radio,” Gisbon told TMZ. “We don’t say because they white they should only be played on the white stations. If I’m number one … my song deserves to be heard by the world.”
Gibson added that he’s personally reached out to top radio DJs, including Ryan Seacrest (of KIIS FM in Los Angeles) and Elvis Duran (of Z100 in New York).