Censored Rap and Me

Honestly my English level doesn't allow me to understand rap. It's too much too fast. That's part of the reason why i don't enjoy hardcore gangster rap, along with its homophobic tendencies, its violence and its demeaning tone against women.

Every so often though, there are some beats or tunes that is so catchy that I can't help but dive into these guilty pleasures.

Move Bitch - Ludacris

My exposure to new music mostly comes from TV, MTV, to be exact. So I was introduced to this song in 2002 just as "Move", not knowing that the TV version was heavily censored. I sung it in the office all cutesy like when someone is in my way. "Move... get outta the way, get outta way, get outta way!" Imagine my shock when my colleagues told me the correct lyrics. It wasn't a big deal, but somehow I felt betrayed by MTV.



"Can I Get A..." - Jay-Z featuring Amil and Ja Rule

This is another one. Great beat, I can really imagine myself bouncing with him, I especially like Amil, she looks and sounds like the total package. Although I had no idea what she was singing back then. All along I thought the lyrics were "Can I get a what-what?", although I wouldn't know what that means. After finding this clip last week, I was horrified to find out that the correct lyrics weren't "what-what" at all. Although after reviewing the correct lyrics, I still don't have a clue what the song is about. There is also a very clever remix of this song seen here.



It reminds me why censoring is bad. Not that I like the uncensored versions better, but I don't appreciate someone else making that decision for me. Lately I've been seeing a lot of commercials about the latest technology to censor TV shows not appropriate for children according to ratings plus television is going completely digital come 2009. But if that really work, it should really means that regular television channels should be able to play more riskee shows. If the censoring is set correctly, children shouldn't be able to accidentally stumble upon sex on TV. That means we should be able to watch Sex in the City without all the cut scenes (what are children doing up that late at night anyway? Who are we protecting exactly?) I vote for gay sex on TV!