Tommy Genesis, whose real name is Genesis Yasmine Mohanraj, comes from a Malayali-Tamil and Swedish descent and was once called “the internet’s most rebellious underground rap queen.” She is now facing backlash and being trolled all over the internet because of her music video ‘True Blue’, which is a part of her upcoming album ‘Genesis’, coming out on 25 July 2025. She has also been slammed by the Indian rapper, ‘Raftaar’, for cultural appropriation in this context.
Tommy Genesis’s new song, which is titled ‘True Blue’, has come under heavy fire and is being accused of blasphemy. In the music video, she can be seen wearing a golden bikini along with a red bindi and is adorned in gold jewellery. At the same time, her body is painted blue, lickening a Hinu-goddess ‘Maa Kaali’, and she uses the cross sign as a prop in a provocative manner by licking it at one point and then joining her hands in ‘Namaste’ further in the music video. The video quickly gained traction online, with people from both the Hindu and Christian communities slamming and accusing her of blasphemy and religious mockery by reporting the video.
The offended viewers have criticised her work largely, and many labelled it as a ‘cheap ploy for attention’. While Tommy’s music often explores themes of gender, sexuality and identity, and she has referred to herself as a “fetish rapper”, the specific visuals in the ‘True Blue’ song have been perceived as a deliberate offence by millions of viewers. This is not the first time this has happened in the industry that an artist has used people's religious sentiments just to gain attention. Nowadays, this has become a trend to gain likes and views by appropriating the cultural and religious sentiments of viewers, many comments exclaimed.
As soon as the song was uploaded, it faced backlash and criticism from several quarters, with one person noting, “Making a song to mock someone’s religion doesn’t make you bold or artistic - it makes you a bully hiding behind music. You don’t have to believe what I believe but you don’t get to disrespect it either,” another viewer commented “This is cultural appropriation at its worst - twisting sacred imagery for attention and clicks. Take accountability. Take this down. And educate yourself before turning someone’s belief system into your aesthetic gimmick.” “This is blasphemy, It has become fashion to hurt Hindu sentiments. Even she knows no one will object” wrote one, “Somehow you’ve managed to offend Christians and Hindus in the same video. Achievement” exclaimed another. “This is pathetic. Stop appropriating Hindu culture for mere likes,” a user added.
Viewers are largely disappointed and actively reporting the video online, but until now, there has been no action taken from the artist’s part.
Raftaar, who is an Indian rapper, came forward to slam Tommy Genesis over her controversial music video titled ‘True Blue’, which was released on June 20. Raftaar took to his Instagram stories on Sunday to speak against the music video, asking people to report it on YouTube.
He also shared a screenshot of him reporting the music video on YouTube, along with a message, “Report This” and mentioned, “This is a mockery of my religion. This shouldn’t exist” as the reason for flagging the video. Many of the viewers of ‘True Blue’ are seen commenting on the video and pleading with others not to play the video and just report it, while many are seen thanking Raftaar for informing them about this video and confirming that they have reported it.