A major Jewish community association is concerned about the arrival in town of controversial French rapper Freeze Corleone, who will take the stage at Montreal’s Olympia on December 4, despite the anti-Semitic character of several of his songs. “It’s disappointing that he found a place to spread his message of hate after what happened in France. It sends the message that these remarks are acceptable, ”is indignant Eta Yudin, Quebec vice-president of the Advisory Center for Jewish and Israeli Relations.
In France, Freeze Corleone was quickly abandoned by the giant Universal Music, shortly after the release of his first album, in September 2020. The controversy surrounding the lyrics of several of his songs then took on a political dimension.
In these, Freeze Corleone is used to attacking famous Jewish personalities and praising notorious anti-Semites, such as Hitler, Goebbels or even Mullah Omar, the former leader of the Taliban. « R to F [rien à foutre] of the Holocaust,” he intones, among other things, in his play N/A Congo.
In the process, an investigation was opened for “incitement to racial hatred” and “racist insult”, but this was not followed up. For the Olympia, in the absence of a conviction, nothing justifies the cancellation of the Freeze Corleone concert in Montreal next month. The owners of the performance hall, who are themselves of the Jewish faith, rely on “freedom of expression” and recall that “rap is a genre in its own right which is characterized by a writing that wants to be provocative and denunciatory of a fact of society”. An argument to which the Advisory Center for Jewish and Israeli Relations does not agree.
“If we read the lyrics of the songs, we understand that it’s hate, we don’t need an investigation for that. […] Hatred and provocation are not the same thing. Fomenting hatred will never be an artistic activity,” says Eta Yudin. The latter does not go so far as to ask the Olympia to reverse its decision and cancel the show. However, she calls on the public to be vigilant and hopes that the rapper will refrain from making any anti-Semitic allusions on stage.
As of this spring, denying or minimizing the Holocaust other than in private conversation is a crime under Canadian law. “If he keeps this message, he could face justice”, warns Mme Yudin. Despite the criticism, the Olympia said on Wednesday that ticket sales for the December 4 show were going “very well”. On the broadcaster’s site, the starting price for entry even exceeded $75.