Aitch has spoken out over the recent debacle in which a much-loved Ian Curtis mural was painted over by an advert for the rapper’s new album.
The Manchester MC told BBC Breakfast how he felt like “the most hated person in Manchester” following the incident and said how he was “fuming for Ian, and his people and what that mural stands for”.
The mural had first been put up in 2020 to mark World Mental Health Day and was created by the artist Akse 19. Curtis, who was born in the Greater Manchester town of Stretford, took his own life in 1980.
Aitch added that although there was a plan to “get it fixed” he was still “fuming” about the mix-up. The ad that cover over the Curtis mural was for Aitch’s debut album, which dropped on Friday – and, somewhat ironically, contains many cultural references to the rapper’s hometown.
'I was the most hated person in Manchester for about 40 minutes'
Rapper Aitch has told #BBCBreakfast he will have a mural of music icon Ian Curtis "fixed pronto" after it was painted over with an advert for his new album.https://t.co/WlHMJRX7lM pic.twitter.com/mxXmZsO13P— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) August 22, 2022
A statement from Amazon Music goes some way to explain how the incident happened, describing how they’d hired an advertising agency to create a mural in Manchester, however, “unbeknownst to us or to Aitch, the wall the agency chose…already had mural on it”.
“As soon as we learned this, we ordered the production to stop and are working with Aitch to restore or replace the original. Our apologies to all who are justifiably upset.”
