The Effects of Censorship the Rap Music Genre
             "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances (First Amendment of the US Constitution, 1791)."
             The expressions given above are derived from the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which guarantees the "free" exercise of speech. Music lyrics, in their original and intended form, should be included in this right, as they are extensions of songwriter's and the artists' speech. Nonetheless, artists are censored in many venues. "It's a fact of life for musicians~ especially rappers- that the original versions of their songs often get 'cleaned up' just so they can be aired on the radio or shown on TV (Benesch, 1994)." Reasoning behind censorship is related to the audience in which the music may be relayed, as well as the actual content of the lyrics. "So record companies sometimes release two different versions of the same song- the "clean" or radio form and the original, or "street" one with explicit lyrics intact (Benesch, 1994)." Regardless of these facts, censorship of any type gives the impression of a direct violation of the United States Constituti!
             on. The remainder of this paper focuses on the laws, enforcements, censors, and a number of artists, which have been subjected to censorship within the rap music genre.
             Some would argue that the government's construction of statutes limiting the areas in which certain lyrics can be played and heard is not censorship. The actual definition of the word censor is, "a person who examines films and printed materials to determine what might be objectionable (Webster's Dictionary, 1996)." Who is the censor? Each individual should determine for themselves the music they listen to, shows they watc...