Skepta is drawing comparisons to Kanye West following the release of his new single artwork – and not in a good way.
After announcing both a new album and its lead single “Gas Me Up (Diligent)” earlier this month, the UK talent premiered the artwork for the new song via Instagram on Monday (January 8). The photo features multiple shaved heads from the back, with one person having “Gas Me Up” tattooed on their head.
The picture immediately drew comparisons to The Holocaust, which then brought Kanye into the conversation for his past antisemitic comments.
“What in the Kanye is going on?!” one person commented. “Im always amazed by the amount of people these kind of things have to go through and no one flagged it?! Smh.”
Another said: “The connation 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.”
Someone else wrote: “Nah skepta don’t do this to your legacy. don’t go out like kanye. Smh.”
You can view the controversial artwork below.
Skepta announced his retirement from rapping in 2021, following five studio albums that culminated with 2019’s Ignorance Is Bliss.
Along with his retirement announcement, he dropped a five-song EP titled All In and promised it would be his last. However, he announced at the top of 2024 that he’d be ending his early retirement with the release of his sixth album, Knife and Fork.
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“It’s been years since I dropped my last album and I want to thank you for all the love during my hiatus,” he wrote in his announcement. “I’ve seen the messages, tweets and Tik Toks, I’m truly grateful that my music is still resonating with the world, even in my absence.”
He continued: “I’m happy to announce my next studio album #KnifeAndFork is loading this year, the first single #GasMeUp (Diligent) will be out January 26th. Can’t wait to see you all @bigsmokefestival happy 2024”
The rapper has not responded to the controversy as of this writing.
