Lupe Fiasco in 2009. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

A prolific rapper, whose latest musical release included blatantly antisemitic lyrics, responded to critics on Tuesday in a hostile Twitter exchange which he ended by announcing his retirement from the music industry, the UK magazine FACT reported.

In the course of the social media dialogue,  American recording artist Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco, rejected the accusations of bigotry, claimed knowledge of Judaism and said he was empathetic towards the tribe. “Antisemite my ass,” he wrote, adding, “I’ve walked inside the ovens of Auschwitz. I’ve been inside the dorms where workers starved to death, too frail to move. I’ve seen the showers & the rail cars where millions died. I’ve been in the ghettos of Warsaw. I’ve seen systematically genocide [sic]. I’ve studied the Hebrew bible and the stories of the Maccabees and the traditions of old Judea. I’ve swayed to the songs of Rosh Hashana…”

The rap song that got him into hot water — “N.E.R.D” — includes the line: “[a]rtists gettin’ robbed for their publishing/By dirty Jewish execs who think that it’s alms from the covenant.”

In response, one fan wrote, “Less respect for you if you divide people by religion.” Fiasco then argued that the lyrics should not be considered antisemitic because “[There are] some upright moral Jewish execs in this biz and some low down dirty, awful mother****ers that would sell their mother into slavery.”

Twitter users were not persuaded, however, and continued to call him to task.

Fiasco, 34, defiantly ended his Twitter tirade by declaring the cancellation of his upcoming album releases and the end of his music career. “I get the hint, God,” he wrote. “Yo Lupe fans, it’s been fun and I hope you’ve had fun. [But] getting beat up for telling the truth is not how I plan on spending the rest of [my] life.” He then set his Twitter and Instagram accounts to “private.”