Since MistaJohn didn't Post it... Cursing in Hip Hop Karaoke

[disgruntledhuman]

Hopefully MistaJohn's chasing down Pete to get those interview questions answered, but he didn't post this, and I'd like to hear some of the opinions from board members here; it is a very interesting/controversial topic I would think.

Letter from a resident

Cursing during Karaoke

Greetings:


   As always I hope this blog finds you all in good health and spirits.  Things are getting a little crazy in the crib.  Getting ready to shoot season two, the Jewish holidays, meeting after meeting, just crazy.  Thanks to all of you who wished me Happy New Year and sent blessings.  They were taken in and appreciated. 


  Any who, I wanted to share with you guys a letter I received from Noel in Toronto who runs a Hip Hop Karaoke Night.  Noel has a situation that I think is really interesting.  Here is Noel's letter and then I was wondering if you guys could respond.  I am interested in what you guys have to say on the subject matter.  I will let you guys know that I have already answered Noel's question and sent it privately but Chantel and I were talking about it, not in great detail but in a manner that suggest that we would be more interested in what you have to say then in what my interpretation is:  Here is Noel's letter in its entirety.  Please read and let me know what you guys would tell Noel


Serch.

Hope you're doing well, my man.

Just wanted to get your opinion on something because I know you addressed a similar issue on the White Rapper Show, and I remember you summing up your views quite well.

Basically we do Hip-Hop Karaoke here in Toronto. Not sure if you ever had the chance to check out the New York one at the Knitting Factory or not.

Anyway, we had an incident last month where some white dude did "Triumph" by Wu-Tang and he got on stage and strung a few N-words together. Something we don't tend to tolerate but we weren't on the ball and allowed him to continue. The crowd wasn't fazed and by the time we clued in to what was happening the song was almost over. So we basically dropped the ball...ting the mic...

But now we're starting to wonder about the larger picture. It's something we're going to have to deal with a few more times and we can't help but wonder if some hip-hop songs aren't meant for people to perform in a karaoke context. It's all fun and games when it comes to "The Humpty Dance" but when someone does a Biggie or Nas song it can get pretty deep.

One of our friends was really offended to see a white guy use the N-word on stage and I couldn't agree more and we should have stopped him right away. We just need to make sure we prevent it as much as we can in the future, but should we even be doing these songs in the first place?

The night has been LOADS of fun and everyone is happy, but when we stop to think about what some of these lyrics are actually saying it's kind of questionable. As the night has increased in popularity it seems it's getting much more political and it's taking the wind out of our sails.

I know you're a busy man, but I just remember what you said to Persia and so I thought of you when all of this went down a few weeks ago. We're getting ready to do the next edition and was just wondering what your thoughts were on the whole Hip-Hop Karaoke concept and basically if a white person should be on stage reciting Dead Prez lyrics, you know?

Thanks, Serch.

-Noel

Cant' wait to hear what you guys have to say…

You may start blogginh and I will try to answer as many of your blogs as possible


Serch

[EastCoastHoney]

Hopefully MistaJohn's chasing down Pete to get those interview questions answered, but he didn't post this, and I'd like to hear some of the opinions from board members here; it is a very interesting/controversial topic I would think.


Well, I guess I am the only one who is going to "bite" on this topic.  Actually, we had a similar "discussion" about this a few months back, and Jorge and I went round and round about it, and it actually got pretty heated.  You can check my previous posts to see how I feel about the subject, but basically, to solve the Karaoke's guy's dilemma, he should just play the "clean" version of rap songs in his bar if he's concerned about the use of the N-word.  The clean versions (radio edits)  usually don't contain the N-word or any profanity, so he could actually kill two birds with one stone.  It doesn't look like most of these dumb ass rappers are going to clean up their language any time soon, so playing the edited versions of songs may be his only option if he wants to prevent any "drama" on Karaoke night!  Peace.  

[disgruntledhuman]

It seems to me that rap has gotten lazy these days with radio edits. Back in the days when NWA or 2 Live or other rappers would cut two totally different versions of their songs, one explicit and one clean. Nowadays its seems like all a radio edit is would be a song with all the words bleeped out. That's usually what I hear on the radio anyway.

I guess what shocked me the most of this topic is that Serch says he doesn't see a problem with a white person doing karaoke saying the N word if it is in the song originally. I don't think that was in the original post I put up of Serch's, but it is in his responses if you check his myspace blog.

[EastCoastHoney]

Yeah, unfortunately rap has gotten lazy with more than just radio edits these days.  Hip hop needs a rebirth or something.  Nobody is really saying anything of interest, and it's just more of the same ole sh*t day in and day out.  I just read an article where Nas is going to call his newest album N*gger.  He says he's trying to take the power out of the word.  Whatever!!  I've always liked Nas, but it sounds to me like he wants some controversy because he probably knows his album sales aren't going to do well.  If he titles his new album the N-word, then he knows that will get people talking and debating, and bring some interest to his album.  I long for the days of hip-hop from the 80's and early 90's when MC's actually had something of interest to say over fresh beats.  Maybe I'm getting old, but I just find it hard to stomach some of this current stuff. 

I didn't read Serch's my space blog, but my guess is that Serch thinks it's okay because the person is just repeating song lyrics, not actually using the word to offend somebody.  But, it will still create problems because someone will take offense and then the drama will begin!