Rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, released “Heil Hitler” on Thursday, and the performer says the single is being suppressed by streaming platforms.
“Heil Hitler by Ye has been banned by all digital streaming platforms while Rednecks by Randy Newman remains streamable. They’re literally keeping the [expletive] down,” Mr. Ye wrote on X, referencing a lyric from the song by Mr. Newman.
Embedded links for the song in other posts by the rapper on X to the music streaming platform Soundcloud are down, and the song doesn’t appear on his official YouTube channel. The song is also unavailable on Spotify and Apple Music, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Anti-Defamation League had called on Spotify on Thursday to remove the song, posting on X that “Ye’s crusade to normalize Nazi language poses a serious threat to our society.”
Mr. Ye posted a music video of one of the versions of the single, which features rows of Black men in animal skins chanting to the chorus of “[expletive] Heil Hitler.”
He also posted a link to the Hawaii-based streaming service Scrybe where people could access the song, according to Showbiz411.
American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch called the song “blatant antisemitism,” reported The Jerusalem Post.
The song mentions the rapper’s struggle to see his children with ex-wife Kim Kardashian, and in it he declares that he “became a Nazi.” He also referenced recreational use of nitrous gas and being a cuckold.
The outro of the song features a clipped portion of a speech by Adolf Hitler at the Krupp factory in 1935, according to Jerusalem’s newspaper. On Wednesday, Mr. Ye posted on X an English translation of the snippet from the speech.
The song isn’t the rapper’s only antisemitic stunt this year. He bought a Super Bowl commercial to get people to go to his clothing store site Yeezy.com before swapping out the items for a white T-shirt with a swastika and Nazi slogan, according to Variety.
