An anti-migrant electro-dance song titled Je Partira Pas (I won’t leave) has taken French social media by storm, despite efforts to ban it.
The track, credited to an artist named Grazy Girl, first aired on June 21 during the Fête de la Musique (Music Day) in France.
The song quickly went viral on social media platform TikTok, amassing a large following and hitting 47,000 views in three days.
TikTok intervened, deleting two versions of the song. The first was removed on June 26, rendering all related videos silent with a message indicating the tune was “unavailable.” The second version, used in around a hundred video posts, was taken down on June 27. By then song had garnered several hundred thousand views.
TikTok’s bans have not deterred users from re-uploading the track manually. Consequently, it has spread to other social media platforms such as X and YouTube.
The SOS Racism organisation filed a complaint against the song on June 27 for “provocation to racial hatred”.
Dominique Sopo, President of SOS Racism, highlighted that the lyrics specifically targeted people of Arab or Muslim origin, exemplified by terms including “djellaba” (kaftan) and “Fatma” (an Arabic girl’s name meaning “baby’s nurse”).
The organisation urged the platforms the song appears on to delete them and called on the relevant authorities to take immediate action to have the content removed from those that did not do so and to punish the authors.
Right-wing supporters in France have fuelled the song’s popularity.
Mila, a teenager who became a right-wing social media influencer after being cyber-bullied in 2020 for criticising Islam, created her own version of the song. According to the youngster, her version was struck down by YouTube within 10 minutes.
Prominent hard-right public figures have shared the song, labelling it “the hit of the summer”.
French hard-right party Reconquête President Eric Zemmour posted a video of himself dancing to the track on X.
« Je partira pas » 🎶 pic.twitter.com/rl1lwotb0j
— Eric Zemmour (@ZemmourEric) June 26, 2024
Despite concerted efforts to curb its spread, Je Partira Pas has continued to gain online traction.
The anti-migrant anthem also features lyrics such as “good riddance – and don’t come back. As you come, you will leave!”
A similar case recently emerged in Germany with a cover of Italian singer Gigi d’Agostino’s song L’amour Toujours.
A hard-right Eurodance craze is rapidly spreading through Germany, despite attempts by the political mainstream to threaten would-be partygoers with job loss, fines and potential prison time. https://t.co/XCQzvCpITc
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 30, 2024
