The British grime artist, Stormzy, was furious at NME magazine for using his photo on the cover without his consent. He expressed his outrage on Twitter with the magazine for using him as a "poster boy."
Stormzy tweeted a series of tweets last week, a few hours after NME shared a picture of the magazine's latest issue cover on Twitter, according to Mashable. In the lengthy tweets, Stormzy said he had been open about his experience dealing with depression, and he has been careful in sharing the story in the media.
The British rapper, born with the name Michael Omari, revealed that the magazine had been trying to get him on their cover, and he refused. Stormzy even called the magazine "Paigons", a British slang for a "traitor" or "betrayer", after they took advantage of him regarding a sensitive issue. He said on Twitter "using my face as a poster boy for it to sell your magazine is so foul and below the belt I will never respect you lot."
In response to this, the NME's editor-in-chief tweeted back at the rapper on their account. The magazine apologized for using his photo on the cover without his consent and they intended to raise awareness on the mental issue. The magazine also clarified that they are a free magazine and they were not trying to sell anything out of the cover.
However, Stormzy did not seem convinced with the explanation. He replied that the magazine is not a non-profit organization, thus it is possible for them to make a profit through advertising.
Previously, Stormzy had talked about dealing with depression that he expresses on his debut album "Gang Signs & Prayer" in an interview with Channel 4. It is rare to see a grime artist show his vulnerability through his music, Stormzy said that at first, it was difficult for him to acknowledge the depression, and it was "a realization how fragile we are" as humans. He also said that he wanted to help people by opening up, saying "If there's anyone out there going through that, I think that for them to see that I went through it would help."