Russian rapper says Western label banned his track

Russian rapper Dmitry ‘MATXX’ Zernov, known for collaborating with A$AP Rocky, says he has been barred from releasing a new track after a decision by an undisclosed European recording label. 

The 27 year old, who previously recorded a verse for A$AP Rocky’s Babushka Boi teaser track, shared the news on social media on Wednesday. He explained that the new song with Paris-based rapper Darui, which has already been completed and was supposed to be released by Darui’s label, was barred from European release due to it “containing a Russian artist.”

“These labels are pressing me, they don’t want me to drop with Russian artists,” wrote Darui to MATXX in a private message on Instagram.

The song was supposed to feature a verse in Russian performed by MATTX, however, that was apparently used as the basis to shelve the track “due to political reasons,” according to the artist.

The Moscow-based rapper says he has also not received a promised advance payment for the track, which he had planned to use to promote his own work and pay off studio debts.

MATXX says that while the new song will not be available in Europe, he intends to release it in Russia, adding that if Darui’s label wanted to sue him for it, they were welcome to challenge him in a Moscow court.

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Meanwhile, a number of Western cultural institutions have been distancing themselves from anything related to Russia, going as far as to ban classic Russia-linked works of art and blacklisting Russian artists in light of Moscow’s ongoing military operation in Ukraine.

The Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra in Wales removed Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s famous 1812 Overture, which celebrates Russia’s successful defense against Napoleon, from its program, claiming it was “inappropriate.” Meanwhile, a university in Milan, Italy tried to suspend a course on acclaimed Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky.

The Royal Opera House in London also canceled the traditional summer season of the Bolshoi ballet, while Netflix has paused production of ‘Anna K’, an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s novel ‘Anna Karenina.’