Artemis II astronauts have been listening to Denzel Curry in space

Artemis II astronauts have been listening to Denzel Curry while floating through space, the crew onboard the NASA spacecraft have said.

On April 7, five days into the 10-day mission, NASA shared a video clip of the crew listening to Denzel Curry and Glass Animals’ ‘Tokyo Drifting’ some 230,000 miles from Earth.

“As our Artemis II astronauts prepare to leave the lunar sphere of influence and return to Earth's gravitational pull, they listened to ‘Tokyo Drifting’, by Denzel Curry and Glass Animals, as their wake-up song,” NASA wrote.

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In reaction, Denzel Curry took to X to share his excitement, writing: “Even aliens fuck with my shit! First rapper played in space!”

Speaking to BBC Newsbeat, Curry said he was shocked to hear that his music had reached space, and said that he wanted to give the astronauts “a hug for even thinking about me”.

He also said that he hoped the track, released in 2019, would get a “second life” as a result, and that his new mission is to become the first rapper to perform in space.

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The four crew members onboard the mission, which launched on April 1 as the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972, have since shared what they’ve been listening to while orbiting the moon.

Alongside ‘Tokyo Drifting’, the Artemis II crew’s wake-up playlist also included tracks from Queen and David Bowie, Chappell Roan and CeeLo Green. The crew are set to return to Earth today, April 10.

Check out the video from NASA below.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag’s Associate Digital Editor, follow her on X