As part of the summer deluge of awards shows (because how else will rich, famous people feel good about themselves?) The BET Awards were last night (yes, Kanye West brought Kim Kardashian as his date), where Whitney Houston was given a very touching memorial and every single performance was essentially bleeped into non-recognition, else the people watching at home have to hear a dirty word. Except whoops! They actually heard several because bleeping a rap song is damn near impossible. From The Huffington Post:
It started during the opening number by West’s G.O.O.D. music group, which included Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz. There were long moments of censored silence when the rappers performed “Mercy,” though not all the offending words were bleeped out. Moments later, Jackson, the show’s host, was joined by Spike Lee as they did a comedic version of Jay-Z and West’s hit song “… In Paris,” to laughs. “Two distinguished Morehouse men,” Lee joked after the performance, referencing the alma mater of the two.
Just putting this out there, but wouldn’t those watching the BET Awards be the same people who actually listen rap in their day-to-day lives, and therefore already be familiar with the lyrics, thus rendering all the bleeping futile, pointless, and a complete waste of time and money? Hell, aren’t most of the words bleeped known to anyone with even the most basic understanding of the language? Maybe I’m just being snarky and cynical again. Thankfully we have people protecting us from the bad words we already use every day!
PS Here is the full list of winners.
