'Cheap' ploy to get attention? Rapper Tommy Genesis' new music video 'True Blue' kicks up a storm, labelled 'offensive' by religious groups

A music video released by Indian-origin rapper 'Tommy Genesis' has kicked up a storm online. Titled 'True Blue', the music video depicts the Canadian citizen, who calls herself a "fetish rapper", painted in blue (associated with the Gods Krishna and Vishnu, and Goddess Kali) and decked up in gold jewellery while brandishing a gold-painted gun and occasionally holding and licking a gold-painted cross or placing it in her nether regions. 

 

These visuals have, naturally, provoked the ire of viewers from Hindu and Christian communities who lambasted her for trying to grab eyeballs with "cheap" and "inappropriate" tactics. One user called her act blasphemous and commented that her "Indian descent makes it very likely that her makeup was deliberately done to hurt Hindu sentiments." Others commented that it was "appropriation" and that she was mocking two religions with a "flop song."

 

 

 

Tommy Genesis is the stage name of Genesis Yasmine Mohanraj, who is reportedly of Tamil, Malayalam, and Swedish descent. She began in the music business in 2013 and released her first album 'Tommy Genesis' in 2018. Since the lyrics of her tracks cover topics like gender, sexuality, mental health, trauma and more, the songs are marked by an unapologetic use of strong and, at times, sexually explicit terms, accompanied by provocative visuals in their music videos. She has collaborated with singers like Charli XCX and Lana Del Rey.

 

 

 

The music video recalls past controversial examples such as Madonna's 1989 music video, 'Like a Prayer,' which featured Christian imagery that offended the Catholic Church. However, no comparison can be made of the quality of images and lyrics. It must be said, though, that scandalous albums are not a new thing. In some instances, it's the negative publicity that brings some singers to the limelight, whether or not a marketing strategy is behind the intention to provoke.

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