Overview

Toxicity Removed From Spotify and Serj Tankian On FBI Watchlist Rumor refers to the sudden removal of the album Toxicity by metal band System of a Down (SOAD) from Spotify in late April 2025 and a series of posts suggesting the lead singer, Serj Tankian, was allegedly on the FBI's watchlist, which was connected to the removal. The album was reportedly removed from Spotify on April 30th, 2025, sparking discourse about why it may have been removed. The claims about Tankian being on the FBI watchlist come from a 2024 interview in which Tankian claimed that Turkish intelligence was watching him in 2005 after he protested a bill that blocked the recognition of the Armenian genocide. The album was made available again by May 1st, with no explanation being given about why it was removed in the first place.

Background

Serj Tankian's Comments About Being Tracked By Turkish Intelligence

On October 8th, 2024, YouTuber^[1] Mythical Kitchen uploaded a "last meal" interview with Serj Tankian, the lead singer of System of a Down, garnering over 2.6 million views in seven months.

At the 12:40 timestamp, Tankian claims that in 2005, after protesting the blocking of a bill to recognize the Armenian genocide, he learned that Turkish intelligence was purportedly tracking him. He claims that someone he knew with an FBI connection gave him a heads up and that he was scared while performing concerts that he would be killed.^[2]

Toxicity Removed From Spotify

On April 30th, 2025, people began to notice that the 2001 album Toxicity by System of a Down was removed from Spotify without warning and posted about it online.

For example, on that day, X^[3] user @tobipickle posted, "system of a down removed toxicity from their spotify, what could this mean," garnering over 4,000 likes in a day.

Shortly after news of the removal of Toxicity, X^[4] user @SawtrapWolfgirl posted on April 30th, "serj tankian being on the fbi watchlist rn and getting toxicity taken off of spotify oh 2005 soad we are so back," appearing to connect the two stories, garnering over 46,000 likes in a day.

Developments

Toxicity Returns To Spotify

By May 1st, 2025, Toxicity was made available on Spotify again. It is unknown why it was temporarily removed.^[5]

Online Reactions

News of Toxicity being removed garnered viral spread online in late April and early May 2025, with several media outlets reporting on it.

For example, on April 30th, 2025, X^[6] user @SOTSPodcast made a post about it that garnered over 41,000 likes in a day.

On the same day, X^[7] user @numetal_moment posted a Photoshop of the album cover with the word "Toxicity" removed, writing, "Toxicity, the acclaimed album from System of a Down, has disappeared," garnering over 20,000 likes in a day.

Also on April 30th, X^[8] user @ghostamanita posted a Living in 1984 meme that was captioned, "serj tankian on the fbi watchlist, my chemical romance going on tour, revenge of the sith re release on theaters, warped tour is back, everyone owns a digicam, we are in an economic recession and business casual is trendy again," garnering over 11,000 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References