Today, The New York Times published a lengthy piece breaking down the campaign playlists of each candidate in the 2020 Election. These playlists are featured at rallies and other events to keep the crowds engaged. Senator, and presidential hopeful, Kirsten Gillibrand has yanked the track “Scared of the Dark” by Lil Wayne & Ty Dolla $ign Featuring XXXTENTACION from her campaign playlist, following backlash from the public.
The rest of Gillibrand's song choice is geared heavily toward female voters; nearly all of the artists featured are women. It’s a clear statement of her support for feminism; therefore, it seems like a glaring misstep to include X, who was accused of sexual assault before his death. The accusations painted a grotesquely disturbing portrait of the artist. The victim claimed he was abusive, violent and threatening. With every detail of a presidential campaign being nit-picked during an election process, Gillibrand's team failed to foresee this controversy. As The New York Times wrote, “There are several hundred Lil Wayne songs that could have appeared on Ms. Gillibrand’s playlist to include contemporary hip-hop,’ but they went with this one.
Gillibrand’s camp has removed the song. You can hear from Gillibrand and the rest of the Democratic hopefuls at the next round of debates on September 12th and 13th.
