U.K. rapper and producer Skepta is under fire after sharing the artwork for his upcoming single, “Gas Me Up.”
Posted to his Instagram account on Monday (Jan. 8), the image is an over-the-shoulder photo of a group of young men with shaved heads all wearing the same uniform. One man’s head features a tattoo of the words “Gas Me Up.”
The artwork was created by London-based artist Gabriel Moses.
PopCrush is choosing not to share the image in question. The single artwork can be viewed here.
Many are now criticizing Skepta for allegedly glorifying Nazi imagery and making light of the Holocaust through imagery that appears to recall Nazi concentration camps and the imprisonment and murder of Jewish Europeans during World War II.
Notably, the shaved heads of the men featured in the single artwork appear to recall the treatment of Jewish people imprisoned during the Holocaust, who had their hair shaved off against their will.
Meanwhile, the single title itself, “Gas Me Up,” draws a sinister parallel to those prisoners who were exterminated in Nazi gas chambers in the 1940s. (In modern slang, the phrase “gas [someone] up” means to fuel their ego or excite someone.)
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“The [connotation] and imagery this conveys is of Jewish concentration camp captives with shaved heads with ‘Gas Me Up’ tattooed to the back of their shaved head? One of the most offensive and distasteful artworks ever. Embarrassing,” one user commented on Skepta’s Instagram post.
“Disgusting cover and if connotations are not on purpose, pure ignorance,” another wrote.
“Bro? This supposed to be a Holocaust reference? So wrong,” another user shared.
“Not cool with the Auschwitz style imagery on the artwork man, not cool at all,” someone else commented.
“Never forget those who lost their lives in the Holocaust. For you to profit off this image is horrendous,” another person wrote.
Many comments in a Reddit thread discussing the image’s controversy seem to agree the artwork nods to the Holocaust, though Skepta’s intention remains unconfirmed.
Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and their allies killed nearly 6 million Jewish people. This genocide, known as the Holocaust, is widely regarded as one of the most tragic and heinous acts in human history.
Considering the sharp rise in antisemitism in recent months, it’s alarming to see a musician use imagery so closely connected to the Holocaust and Jewish concentration camps, even if unintentional. If it’s an intentional reference, however, it’s both irresponsible and disgusting.
Skepta has not addressed the growing backlash or allegations as of publishing.
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Gallery Credit: Erica Russell