"This one definitely goes out on a censorship tip
So everybody sit back, relax and have a champagne sip"
None of us like clean radio versions! Every time your hear something, it's always gotta be raw uncensored! That's the truth! Some artists just have their curse words bleeped on for their clean versions while other actually record a new version with changed vocals. Some don't have new vocals but instead of it just being muted, scratching and sound effects are used to replace these blanks. A list titled "Great Fuckin' Clean Versions" from Ego Trip's Book of Rap List basically listed the clean versions that were worth listening to. Like Thun said, "Ego Trip made it a hot list, we made it a hot compilation". Last year, I compiled DJ Premier's Underacknowledged Cuts from Ego Trip's list. It received props all over the net.. even from Elliot Wilson! Enjoy this one!
Great fuckin' post.
ReplyDeleteThanks Thomas! My favorite clean version has to be Onyx - Da Nex Ding Dong. I'll even take it over the LP Version any day.
ReplyDeleteThanks Andyman! Fredro Starr screaming "Honey I'm home" is dope as fuck on that version. Definitely a great fuckin' clean version!
ReplyDelete-- Thomas V.
I must have been the only one that dug the clean versions, it was the only way i could blast my songs and not worry I was corrupting any nearby kids ! hopefully some more volumes can come out of this. My favorite was cypress hill- When the Ship goes down... you know they are saying shiP right, RIGHT...?
ReplyDeleteas a radio DJ this whole playlist is going up on my next show.
ReplyDeleteif i had to pick my favorite form of censoring it would be the muting. i love hearing the stuttering vocals...it's strangely appealing.
thanks for this...and everything really.
best blog.
Great idea for a mix. On a related note, I was listening to my local Toronto top 40 today and heard MIA's paper planes. The catchy gun shot hook got edited!!! They switched it into this weird muffled sound. Couldn't believe it.
ReplyDeleteThat book is mandatory, hilarious, but the greatest clean is surely My minds playin tricks on me, right? I remember buying the album and was somewhat disappointed in the dirty version, something about the timing was off..great post!
ReplyDeleteYeah, great book! I just got it off amazon the other week.
ReplyDeleteI always preferred the dirty version of DMX's "Slippin", just cos it made more sense when you could actually hear what the fuck he was rapping about. Trouble is, every version of it I downloaded was piss-poor quality...
ReplyDeleteI always prefered the clean version of Edo-G & The Bulldogs 'Gotta Have It'. the line that stood out to me as being dope (at the time) was "Step back relax coz Edo Gs about to come off", but then i heard the dirty mix on the 12 and it was all "jerkin your jimmy but you still can't come off" which i hated. So theres my useless contribution. Nice.
ReplyDeleteFirst thing I thought od was Protect Ya Neck. Does that not count because the clean version was on the album?
ReplyDeleteNice! Looking for more clean versions where the lyrics actually differ from the dirty version. Suggestions?
ReplyDeleteI always appreciated when dudes changed up their
ReplyDeleterhymes to make it clean and still stayed true to
the song and dope. I think that shows some real
talent.
I also liked the sound effects, I think Primo
put the game on lock with his.
Beeps always bothered me.
I remember the first time I had Beatnuts Find That on tape off the radio, it was god awful.
The hook was full of loud ass beeps. I was young, wanted to show off by bumping it in my
boombox, but those beeps were
embarrassing. Lol
Or nowadays, in videos or on the radio, they
don't even do shit, they just blank out the
words, sometimes to the point that I don't even
know what the hell is going on in the song. Boo
those lazy ass rappers!!
I'm always finding ones that I like and find
clever, just can't think of them now.
One that always bothered me was "Gin And Juice". "Rollin down the street smokin smokin". I hated
that one.
You had kids singing that shit like that was how
it really went.
Very good work on this one, Thomas. Props.
@Verge
ReplyDeleteI'm on the other side of the debate.
I've always preferred interesting edits over re-written verses, especially after hearing the album cut first. This usually happens with second or third singles.
Often I find the re-written verses loses some of the energy of the verse as it was originally delivered.
Brooklyn Zoo is legendary and offers a mixture of both, but some of my favorite edits include
CRU - Pronto
Casual - That's How It Is (video version)
Wu Tang Clan - Protect Ya Neck (another legendary edit)