Rant #2: "Cold, Unfiltered, Genuine Tuneage"

Drink it in, it always goes down smooth.

I was having a chat with one of my followers this weekend, and he asked me to write my thoughts about something. And if you guys didn't know, any requests will be handled as soon as possible. So here goes my 2nd installment of B Side Rants:

Censorship. Bleeping, mixing, muting - it's all the same thing and I really, really - REALLY don't like it.

Now, I already blew my gasket over the radio...and this is a semi similar annoyance. Why do I want to hear the 'clean' version of any song out there? I understand that for radio purposes there needs to be a version that doesn't contain certain words - that's fine. And I even sort of understand why clean versions are out there so parents can buy records for their kids. (I'd argue that little Billy probably shouldn't even listen to a cleaned up version of Eminem, but that's another blog). But since I brought him up, let's talk Eminem. Back when I was rockin my Nautica's and a fresh long sleeve button up, the Marshall Mathers LP was released. Do you know how many versions of My Name Is are out there? I think I lost count at 900 or so. The only version I care to hear is the one that he originally wrote and the one that was "too disturbing" to play basically anywhere. I like it because it's the funniest version and it's what Eminem wanted me to hear. Not some watered down version of his craft that my 8 year old niece could play without learning new curse words. I'm an adult, and I think I can handle making my own choices as to what my ears can handle. You'd think that this is only a problem if you buy those clean versions or on the radio, but it's not! There are some records where the lyrics were deemed so offensive, that the studios mute them before they ship. Check out "Got My Mind Made Up" by 2Pac. Method Man's verse has three words cut out of it, "Sticking up **** with ****** ******". WHAT??? Now, I won't post what the lyrics are, you can go find them yourself if you're curious as I was - but come on! Yeah, the lyrics might be distasteful and yeah, some folks might get offended, but so what? Some of them will be just as put off by the overuse of the word fuck or any other curse word that is fragile to their sensitive ear drums.

Give me my music the way the artist intended. Not some pencil pusher at the studio, some DJ at the radio station or some activist who thinks I might go out and shoot somebody because it's in a song. If I think the track is too much, I WON'T LISTEN TO IT! But I should have the ability to make that choice as a grown adult in the United States of America. So - here's to life, liberty and the pursuit of uncensored music!