Travis Barker on Kourtney Kardashian Cannibal Corpse Shirt Controversy: "The Lamest Shit Ever" | Revolver

Travis Barker on Kourtney Kardashian Cannibal Corpse Shirt Controversy: "The Lamest Shit Ever"

Blink-182 drummer comments on fiancée's polarizing fashion statement
travis barker kourtney kardashian GETTY, Jeff Kravitz/MTV VMAs 2021/Getty Images for MTV/ViacomCBS
photograph by Jeff Kravitz/MTV VMAs 2021/Getty Images for MTV/ViacomCBS

Late last year, the ol' "should non-metalheads wears metal shirts?" debate was rekindled care of Kourtney Kardashian, who was spotted rocking a Cannibal Corpse "Eaten Back to Life" shirt while out on the town in Venice with her significant other, Travis Barker. As Kardashian's stylist Dani Michelle revealed to Vogue at the time, the reality TV star borrowed the tee from the blink-182 drummer, whose closet Michelle described as "an archive itself."

As for the debate, former Cannibal Corpse/current Six Feet Under vocalist Chris Barnes came in firmly on the "hell no" side, calling Kardashian a "poser" on Twitter before adding a thumbs-down emoji. Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares, meanwhile, presented an opposing viewpoint: "[Barnes] has it all wrong, why wouldn't u want exposure for your music even tho he's not in the band anymore," Cazares tweeted. "I wish she was wearing one of my bands tees, great exposure."

Now, in a new Revolver interview with Barker — focused on his recent production work on rap-punk duo Ho99o9's pulverizing new album, SKIN — the blink-182 drummer has chimed.

"To speak on that, that's the lamest shit ever," Barker said of the controversy. "Obviously my fiancée doesn't listen to Cannibal Corpse, but I do. I grew up loving them. For [someone] to mention that in a negative light — fucking lame, you know? She's wearing it because she's cold. She's not claiming she knows every song. But I do! I bought every album, and I learned how to play every album.

"I grew up a punk-rock kid, [but] everything with punk rock — 'I'm more punk than you' — just fuck all that. Be stoked that people are into music. Music is beautiful! It changes people's lives. It creates the best memories. Just celebrate it, you know?

"But, yeah ... I have a gang of Cannibal Corpse T-shirts," he added with a laugh. "I still love them. I have a gang of King Diamond T-shirts and rare Slayer shirts because I fucking love those bands. I grew up on them. Even though I'm, you know, whatever the world wants to view me as — 'Oh, that's blink-182's drummer' — actually that guy was playing in a garage with a bunch of speed-metal kids listening to D.R.I. and S.O.D. I enjoyed every fucking minute of it."

For more perspective on the question of who should and shouldn't wear metal shirts, watch Revolver's video "Should Non-Metalheads Wear Metal Shirts" featuring opinions from Pantera's Philip Anselmo, Beartooth's Caleb Shomo, Motionless in White's Chris Motionless, Babymetal's Su-metal and Moametal, and many more.