Elon Musk has released a rap song on Soundcloud that combines a Twitter joke and an ancient meme about the gorilla Harambe.
Titled "RIP Harambe", the track makes generous use of Auto-Tune and features the lyrics: "RIP Harambe/ Sipping on some Bombay/ We on our way to Heaven/ Amen, Amen."
It was posted on the SpaceX boss's fictitious Emo G Records page, which links to a joke made over the weekend. "I'm disappointed that my record label failed," Musk tweeted.
Harambe the gorilla was killed at Cincinnati Zoo after getting hold of a three-year-old boy who climbed into his enclosure in 2016. He was shot by a zookeeper who feared for the child's life – the boy was unharmed.
The incident sparked global uproar over the decision to kill Harambe, with animal behaviour experts expressing doubt over whether the gorilla would have harmed the child. After Harambe's death he became the subject of countless viral memes, and was named by Vox as having "undeniable status as 2016's meme of the year".
Since Musk's track was uploaded on Saturday, it has been streamed over 250,000 times. It is uncertain whether it was intended as an April Fools joke released early by accident.
