Hatrack River Forum: Do censors over-edit rappers because of the genre they're in?

This is topic Do censors over-edit rappers because of the genre they're in? in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :

Take "Mosh" by Eminem, for example. There's a line that says

quote:
...as I’m gonna whip someone's ass

In the edited version, it says

quote:
as I'm gonna **** someone's ***

Is it just me, or does the edited version make it sound a lot worse than it actually is?

Also, take "I Can" by Nas.

quote:
She was very beautiful, leaving people in awe
Singing songs, Lina Horn, but the younger version
Hung with the wrong person
Got her strung on that
Heroin, cocaine, sniffin up drugs all in her nose...
Coulda died, so young, now looks ugly and old
No fun cause now when she reaches for hugs people hold they breath
Cause she smells of corrosion and death
Watch the company you keep and the crowd you bring
Cause they came to do drugs and you came to sing
So if you gonna be the best, I'ma tell you how,
Put your hands in the air, and take a vow

See, here, they only mention drugs in a negative light. But because they mention the drugs by name, they have to be edited, which just makes it sound like he shouted a long line of swear words. Do people honestly think that by not mentioning the names of drugs - especially when used negatively - is going to make the problem go away? Some argue that edited CDs are marketed to kids, but in today's world, you'd have to be hard-pressed to find an eight-year-old that doesn't know what cocaine is.

So why is it that Green Day and Disturbed can say the F-word on the radio (see "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "Down With the Sickness", respectively), DJs can air a Maroon 5 song that talks almost exclusively about sex, but rappers have to fight to have the phrase "whip someone's ass" on their edited CDs? I mean, don't get me wrong. There are definitely some Eminem lyrics that deserve to be edited out. But aren't we going a little overboard?

[ November 09, 2004, 04:43 PM: Message edited by: Da_Goat ]

Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :

Ummm...can you please remove the word "screw" from the title of this thread. It offends me and given that you're talking about rap music you must mean it in a sexual manner, which only makes it worse.

Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :

Heh. [Smile]

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

All I know is I was walking back from lunch today and this kid with headphones on was "singing" the following rap lyric:

"F___"
"F___"
"F___ this F___'in S___"

Over and over at the top of his lungs (couldn't hear himself with the headphones on, I guess. If there'd been little kids around, I probably would've at least said something to him. But as it was, I just figured if I even made eye contact with him I'd be in the middle of a brawl before I knew it.

Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :

Sometimes I can't figure censors out. One that just boggled my mind was the Korn song Thoughtless - they'd edit out "rape" but not "f***".... [Dont Know]