Kendrick Lamar, photo by Amy Price

Spotify recently rolled out a new hate content policy with the aim of limiting the exposure of problematic artists. R. Kelly and XXXTentacion were the first two artists affected by the policy, though at the urging of Kendrick Lamar, Spotify is already amending its stance.

According to Bloomberg, Kendrick personally called up Spotify Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek and head of artist relations Troy Carter to express his frustration with the policy and even threatened to pull his own music from the service if the policy was maintained. Among Kendrick’s concerns, Bloomberg reports, was that the policy unfairly targeted people of color.



Since Kendrick got in touch, Spotify has begun to walk the policy back a bit. Yesterday, XXXTentacion’s music reappeared on Spotify’s flagship playlists, and Spotify is “talking to the music industry and civil-rights activists about how and when to adjust its rules in a manner suitable to both sides.” As of now, however, R. Kelly’s music remains missing from Spotify’s playlists.