Kirsten Gillibrand Removes XXXTentacion Song From Her Campaign Playlist Following Backlash

The New York Times published an article on Monday (Aug. 19) about each of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates' campaign playlists. Some of the lists featured a variety of songs in the hip-hop, country, R&B and pop genres and appear to target their core fanbases whether they are old, young, straight or L.G.B.T.Q.

The newspaper highlighted Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's (D-NY) playlist and one particular song choice. The Democrat has been very vocal about addressing women's issues in her campaign, which may explain why her playlist features more female artists than the other candidates. However, the inclusion of the "Scared of the Dark" remix by Lil Wayne and Ty Dolla $ign featuring the late XXXTentacion, who was shot and killed in June 2018, is rather odd given the late rapper's past domestic battery case.

New York Times journalist Jon Caramanica sees it as "a misstep," considering that XXXTentacion was arrested in 2016 for alleged aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, domestic battery by strangulation, false imprisonment, witness tampering and witness harassment. The domestic battery case was eventually closed by a judge in August 2018.

Caramanica added that there are hundreds of Lil Wayne songs they could have added to include some contemporary hip-hop on the list.

A rep from Gillibrand’s campaign did inform the Times that the song was removed from the playlist in the spring.

We must also mention that Gillibrand's playlist does include some empowering rap anthems like Jay-Z's New York ode "Empire State of Mind" featuring Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah's "Ladies First" and Lizzo's "Good as Hell."

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