A French rapper who compared himself to Adolf Hitler has been dropped by his label and currently under investigation after being accused of spreading anti-Semitism.
Freeze Corleone, 28, released his debut album “LMF” last week and one of his songs has already amassed more than 1.3 million views on YouTube.
In an announcement on Thursday afternoon, Paris Prosecutor Remy Heitz said Corleone was being investigated for ‘inciting racial hatred’ based on the content of his songs and videos posted online.
It follows mounting anger from French politicians about his lyrics, in which he questioned the Holocaust and compared himself to Adolf Hitler.
French justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said art cannot be used as a shield for “hate or Nazi apologists”.
His record label, Universal Music France said they were cutting all ties with him because “the release of the album has revealed and amplified unacceptable racist statements”.
But Corleone, whose real name is Issa Lorenzo Diakhate, hit back Friday, taking to Twitter to attack Universal.
“Finally free,” he tweeted.
“Thank you to everyone for their support. God will be victorious, we will never give up on this marathon,” he added.
The album, whose full title is “La Menace Fantome” (The Phantom Menace), also contains references to popular conspiracy theories.
In other lyrics, Corleone declares that he “arrives determined like Adolf in the 1930s”, that he doesn’t “give a damn about the Shoah”, and that “like Swiss bankers, it will be all for the family so my children can live like Jewish rentiers.”
Corleone, whose father is Senegalese and mother Italian, was born on the outskirts of Paris but has also lived in Canada and in Dakar.
The International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism, known by its French acronym Licra, condemned Corleone and the music industry for promoting him.
“Impunity must end. We call on all partner actors to take responsibility,” the organisation wrote on Twitter, tagging music streaming sites and apps including Google Play and Apple Music.
About 50 politicians, including many within President Emmanuel Macron’s LREM party, condemned the rapper on Thursday, as several of his songs climbed to the top of the country’s music charts.
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