A racially insensitive track that appears on the Patti Smith Group’s 1978 album, Easter, is no longer available on streaming services. “Rock N Roll
N- - - - -†disappeared from Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music sometime in the past few months, according to a Rolling Stone report. It remains unclear who authorized the removal and if Patti Smith was involved in the decision. Vulture has reached out to Smith’s reps for comment. The song remains available on physical and digital versions of the album, which is one of the group’s best-selling records owing to the popularity of its single “Because the Night.†The lyrics to the song use the racial slur to describe Jimi Hendrix, Jesus Christ, and Jackson Pollock. Rolling Stone points out Smith’s liner notes, which defend her use of the racial epithet. “N- - - - - no invented for color it was MADE FOR THE PLAGUE,†she wrote. “The word (art) must be redefined — all mutants and the new babies born sans eyebrow and tonsil … any man who extends beyond the classic form is a n- - - - -.†Smith defended the use of the slur, which was controversial even when the song when was released. As late at 1996, she said she was “sort of reinventing the word†by using it in the track.