The singer and entrepreneur Rihanna in the past days ended up at the centre of a controversy after the song “Doom” by Coucou Chloe during the latest Savage x Fenty fashion show. The 2016 song includes a narration of Hadith, sayings and actions of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, about the end of the world and the afterlife. The Hadith is one of the most sacred text to Muslims. Several people pointed out on social media that the song includes a remixed reading of the sacred text, and neither Rihanna nor the artist behind the song was aware of it, which soon apologized after being called out.
Rihanna posted her apology on Instagram: “I’d like to thank the Muslim community for pointing out a huge oversight that was unintentionally offensive in our Savage X Fenty show. I would more importantly like to apologize to you for this honest, yet careless mistake. We understand that we have hurt many of our Muslim brothers and sisters, and I’m incredibly disheartened by this!” She concluded by reassuring that she will do better and educate herself so that she won’t commit the same mistake twice.
On Monday, Coucou Chloe producer of the song addressed the issue on Twitter: “I want to deeply apologize for the offence caused by the vocal samples used in my song ‘DOOM’. The song was created using samples from Baile Funk tracks I found online. At the time, I was not aware that these samples used text from an Islamic Hadith. I take full responsibility for the fact I did not research these words properly and want to thank those of you who have taken the time to explain this to me,” continued a second tweet by the British singer. “We have been in the process of having the song urgently removed from all streaming platforms.”
