Report: NCAA denied LSU baseball players walkup songs by Kanye West at College World Series

Two LSU baseball players ran into issues at the College World Series after requesting to play walkup songs by artist Kanye West. According to Jacques Doucet of WAFB-TV, outfielder Derek Curiel was told he had to play the instrumental version of “God Is” from West’s album “Jesus is King” rather than the one with lyrics.

Similarly, pitcher Kade Anderson was denied the chance to play “All of the Lights” from West’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” album as his walk-out song. Curiel expressed his dismay that he was not allowed to play the song he wanted.

“I’m a little upset that the NCAA didn’t allow that song to be played,” he said. “They only played the instrumental version. They didn’t let the words play. But it’s OK. ‘God is everything that has breath. Praise the Lord.’ That’s a verse in the bible and I just wanted everyone to know. You worship Chris and that’s what I’m here to do and I want people to know me as the guy who plays baseball who loves Jesus.”

"I'm a little upset that the NCAA didn't allow that song to be played."

"I don't know if it was religious or Kanye West or what."

"I just want people to know me as a guy who plays baseball + that loves Jesus." @LSUbaseball Derek Curiel Sunday after the national championship… pic.twitter.com/GiXcRDJKAb

— Jacques Doucet (@JacquesDoucet) June 24, 2025

Initially, Curiel was not sure whether his song choice was denied because of the artist or because of its religious content. But Doucet later confirmed through his sources that it was due to West being the artist.

Of course, Kanye West has found himself at the center of controversy numerous times in recent years. The rapper has promoted antisemitic views both on social media and in his music and businesses. Although he grew a large fan base in the early 2000s through his music, his recent behavior has resulted in several of his former fans choosing to no longer support him.

That perhaps can explain the reasoning behind the decision from those in charge at the College World Series not to allow LSU players to play Kanye West’s music. Either way, it didn’t seem to affect them all that much on the field as they reeled off back-to-back victories against Coastal Carolina to claim the national championship.

That included a 5-3 victory on Sunday to finish things off in which Curiel tied for the team lead with two RBI. As he said, he isn’t all that worried about not getting the song he wanted for his walkup, and he’ll surely take a trophy over that any day. But it still certainly makes for an interesting story given all the attention on West of late.