XXXTentacion is not rocking with Spotify’s decision to remove his music from its playlists.
A member of XXXTentacion’s team reached out to Joe Coscarelli of the New York Times on behalf of the “?” artist, saying, “I don’t have a comment, just a question. Will Spotify remove all [these] artists from playlists?”
The list provided included the likes of Gene Simmons from KISS, David Bowie, James Brown, Seal, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Nick Carter of Backstreet Boys, Real Estate, Michael Jackson, Miles Davis, 6ix9ine, Nelly, Miguel, Fabolous and Dr. Dre, among others, with various allegations of sexual or domestic assault attached to each name.
The streaming service decided to remove the “17” rapper’s music from its editorial or algorithmic playslist as part of its new hate content and hateful conduct policy.
XXXTentacion’s held a hot spot on Spotify’s flagship RapCaviar playlist – which has 9.5 million followers – at No. 8.
Spotify addressed their decision in a statement.
“We don’t censor content because of an artist’s or creator’s behavior, but we want our editorial decisions — what we choose to program — to reflect our values,” the company said. “When an artist or creator does something that is especially harmful or hateful, it may affect the ways we work with or support that artist or creator.”