Music from troubled recording artists R. Kelly and XXXTentacion is no longer available on Spotify after a Duke University VP complained about Spotify programming.
Spotify announced it is removing R. Kelly’s and XXXTentacion’s music from it playlists and programming due to “hateful conduct.”
The news comes days after two baristas were fired from a Duke University coffee shop for playing offensive rap music by Young Dolph.
On Friday, Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta entered a Joe Van Gogh coffee shop on the campus of Duke University and overheard a song by Young Dolph playing on Spotify.
Moneta complained about the offensive lyrics which included the N-word and the line “I f—-d her so good.”
Baristas Britni Brown and Kevin Simmons, who were working in the shop, apologized and turned the music off.
Simmons later said Moneta “verbally harassed” Brown about the music.
Brown offered to give Moneta a muffin free on the house, but Moneta declined and chose to pay instead.
Spotify apologized to Moneta for the incident and announced it was removing several artists — included R. Kelly and rapper XXXTentacion — from its playlists. It isn’t clear if Young Dolph is one of the banned artists.
Spotify defended accusations that the company is censoring the troubled artists.
“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,” Spotify said in a statement. “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.”
R. Kelly faces renewed claims of sexual misconduct and kidnapping, while XXXTentacion was recently arrested for physically abusing his girlfriend.
Photos by Getty Images
