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In an X post on Monday, May 12, @Kurrco has claimed that Kanye West's upcoming album could be banned in Russia. According to the post, Russia's media regulator has raised a formal request to ban any song with lyrics that "promote N*zism, glorify WWII criminals, incite violence, encourage drug use, and reference 'non-traditional s*xual preferences.'"
The X post comes nearly a year after Kanye West visited Russia's capital city, Moscow. According to a CNN article published on June 30, 2024, the Russian state media TASS claimed that Ye arrived in Moscow in June 2024 for a private visit, which was later confirmed by the brand team of Gosha Rubchinskiy, a Russian designer. Rubchinskiy heads the design department of Kanye West's fashion line, Yeezy.
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According to state media RIA Novosti, Ye also uploaded a post reading "Hi, Moscow," on VK, a Russian social media website. Videos of Kanye and his security guards in Moscow also emerged in Russian media, though the 99 Problems rapper was not clearly identifiable in the footage.
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Kanye West's latest release, H**l H*tler, was banned on multiple digital platforms
The post about the potential ban of Kanye West's album in Russia comes days after the rapper uploaded his latest song, H**l H*tler, on May 8. The controversial, anti-semitic song, which was instantly banned from all digital streaming platforms, continued to circulate on X, where it found its largest audience.
In the track's lyrics, West addresses his child custody battles with his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian:
"With all of my money and fame I still don't get to see my children / Ni***s see my Twitter but they don't see how I be feeling / So I became a N*zi, yeah bi**h, I'm the villain"
The song repeats its titular term 15 times and also uses the N-word. Ye's song was criticized by Jim Berk, the CEO of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization. Berk's opening statement read:
"Kanye West’s release of a song entitled ‘H**l H*tler’ on VE Day, the anniversary of the defeat of the N*zi regime, is hate speech, pure and simple—totally in line with the despicable messages we now expect from West."
The CEO also called out X for partnering with Kanye to spread the controversial song, writing:
"But his partner in spreading dangerous vitriol against Jews is X, which is allowing flagrant violation of its own rules reading, ‘You may not directly attack other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, s*xual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease."
Berk appealed to X to ban West from the platform and to other platforms and distributors to stop hosting or monetizing his songs. His statement concluded by pointing out the necessity of drawing "a clear line" when it came to "the glorification of genocidal regimes."
In a recent interview, John Legend also addressed Ye and his transformation over the past two decades, calling it both "sad" and "sometime shocking."
