Tommy Genesis Faces Backlash for Alleged Cultural Appropriation in New Music Video

23 Jun 2025 2:35 PM IST

The rapper appears with blue body paint, gold jewelry, and a red bindi, imagery that blatantly evokes the image of Hindu goddess Kali. This ensemble is paired with a golden bikini, high stilettos, and a crucifix.

Tommy Genesis Faces Backlash for Alleged Cultural Appropriation in New Music Video

Picture courtesy : X

Canadian rapper Tommy Genesis faced controversy over her latest music video “True Blue”, with many perceiving the visuals as disrespectful to both Hindu and Christian religious symbols. In the video which was released on Youtube on June 20th, the rapper appears with blue body paint, gold jewelry, and a red bindi, imagery that blatantly evokes the image of Hindu goddess Kali. This ensemble is paired with a golden bikini, high stilettos, and a crucifix. Her sexualized portrayal combined with explicit actions which showcase her licking the crucifix and using it to cover private areas has sparked widespread outrage among social media users who have accused Genesis of cultural appropriation and mocking sacred religious beliefs. On Sunday, Indian rapper Raftaar took to Instagram to condemn the video, stating, “This is a mockery of my religion. This shouldn’t exist.” He further urged his followers to report the video on Youtube so as to take it down. Netizens seem to be agreeing with Raftaar, with many demanding Tommy Genesis to immediately delete the video and issue an apology, with one social media user commenting, “This creator must be cancelled because wtf is this, stop using our religion for your cheap publicity. Take art classes , do something creative.” “Using Maa Kali as some edgy aesthetic? Disgusting. She's not a costume, not a mood board, not a visual gimmick. She’s divine - powerful, sacred, and deeply loved,” another X (formerly Twitter) user stated.

Tommy Genesis, whose real name is Genesis Yasmine Mohanraj, is of Indian descent, which made many speculate whether she had deliberately made the video to hurt Hindu sentiments. On the other hand, certain Youtube comments, although few and far between have defended the rapper, calling the music video a message of how Genesis had overcome darkness through religion, wearing the attire as a means of showing inner strength and using the cross to protect the entries to her body. Nevertheless, there seems to be an agreement that the artist had crossed the line of artistic expression through her portrayals.

Over the course of her career, Genesis has made a name for herself through her provocative style and boundary-pushing music, often focusing on an exploration of gender, sexuality, and identity.

She has described herself as a “fetish rapper”, with an international publication even calling her “the internet’s most rebellious underground rap queen” in 2016.

While the “True Blue” music video has driven the internet into outrage, this isn’t the first time that artists have been accused of cultural appropriation, with the most notable music video that comes to mind being Doja Cat’s debut single “So High”. Similar to “True Blue”, the “So High” music video released in 2014, portrays Doja covered in blue body paint and dressed as a Hindu goddess, while she sits on a lotus-styled throne and sings lyrics pertaining to drug use. As she gained popularity, people started accusing the music video of sexualizing Hindu culture which prompted a response from Doja in 2021 stating, “If I knew not to do that, I probably wouldn’t have done it. When something is so sacred to many people, I think it’s good to be more sensitive about it and just kind of back away."

While it is up to the individual to decide whether or not music videos such as these, truly appropriate and disrespect religious symbols, or rather serve as a means of artistic expression, a majority of social media users hailing from Hindu and Christian communities, have aligned with the former. Despite online pressure, Tommy Genesis is yet to respond to the controversy and the music video continues to remain on Youtube.

This article is authored by Rishima Mosali from Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts, Pune, Interning at Deccan Chronicle

( Source : Deccan Chronicle )

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Tommy Genesis Faces Backlash for Alleged Cultural Appropriation in New Music Video

The rapper appears with blue body paint, gold jewelry, and a red bindi, imagery that blatantly evokes the image of Hindu goddess Kali. This ensemble is paired with a golden bikini, high stilettos, and a crucifix.

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