Skepta was accused of using anti-Semitic imagery as the cover for his latest single – and given the song’s title… an apology was more than warranted, which he issued.
The British rapper announced this new song that he will be releasing soon called ‘Gas Me Up’. The guy is surrounded by a bunch of other guys who also have shaved heads.
Of course, images like this – especially at this polarizing time in the world – almost immediately got people thinking: is this some kind of statement about the Holocaust???
Definitely a fair thought, because honestly the combination of text and images isn’t great.
Welp, Skepta heard all the criticism… and he fully owned the mistake, apologizing for offending anyone – while explaining in the same breath what he was getting at.
Skepta wrote: “I’ve been waiting to drop ‘Gas Me Up (Diligent)’ since I teased it last April, and have been working hard to get the artwork right for the rollout of my album, which is about my parents who came to Britain in the 80’s, Skinhead Football culture is taken as offensive by many, I can promise you this was absolutely not our plan so I have removed it and I promise to be more aware in the future. ‘
He posted more images he was considering as a ‘mood board’ for this project, showing other men/boys with shaved heads… which he says serve as inspiration – noting that it has nothing to do with the Holocaust has, but more so British trends from the 20th century.
![](https://imagez.tmz.com/image/44/16by9/2024/01/08/44876060444f4277bd994674fb486938_md.jpg)
He ends with this… “I can honestly see how my one piece of art without context could be considered offensive, especially at a time like this, but again, that was not my intention,” Skepta said. “But after some thought, I don’t understand that. If I feel like I can continue to be the artist that you all know and love when my art is supervised, I have to stop if I can’t express my art as I see it. So to help with context, here are some photos of our mood board.”
Skepta is known for his political messages in his music, but this time he says the intent has been misinterpreted… noting it has nothing to do with the war in the Middle East.
Good thing he apologized and clarified… because that was easy to misinterpret.
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