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Epic Records is going to "great efforts" to take down a new Future remix leaked over the weekend with a vulgar lyric by Lil Wayne that has offended the family of Emmett Till. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Epic Records says it is making "great efforts" to take down a new Future remix with a vulgar Lil Wayne lyric that has offended the family of a black U.S. teenager whose murder in the 1950s for whistling at a white woman helped to change the national conversation on race.

In a version of the song leaked over the weekend, the rapper makes a sexual reference to the beating death of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Chicago boy tortured and shot in Mississippi in 1955. Till's family objected, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson contacted Lil Wayne's management, The Blueprint Group, on the family's behalf.

The label issued a statement Wednesday night apologizing for the release of the song.

"We regret the unauthorized remix version of Future's 'Karate Chop,' which was leaked online and contained hurtful lyrics," the statement said. "Out of respect for the legacy of Emmett Till and his family and the support of the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. ... we are going through great efforts to take down the unauthorized version."

Epic will release an official version of the song that "will not include such references."

A publicist said Lil Wayne had no comment.