'Tsumani Song' Parody Gets HipHop Station in Hot Water

abooja

Well-Known Member
I heard about this for the first time yesterday and was completely appalled. A radio station in New York actually allowed a song that mocks "chinks" and "chinamen" dying in a horrible natural disaster to be broadcast on its airwaves for a full week. Unbelievably, this occurred during the week of Martin Luther King's birthday.

You can listen to the song, read the lyrics and sign a petition against the radio station that allowed this broadcast here.

This is a recent article on the story:

Hot 97 is weathering 'Tsunami Song' storm

By DAVID HINCKLEY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

The question of the moment about Hot 97's well-circulated "Tsunami Song" might be this: Miscalculation or mission accomplished?

The Miss Jones morning show on WQHT (97.1 FM) last week aired a dark-humor parody of "We Are the World" with lines like "You could hear God laughing,/ 'Swim, you bitches, swim.'" This, plus its use of a slang term for Asians, fueled a wave of outrage - though much of the song jabs more at Michael Jackson.

Late Friday, Hot 97 apologized for "material that made light of a serious and tragic event," and noted the station has joined relief efforts.

On Monday, several city officials said "not enough," denouncing the song as insensitive and tasteless. Some called for Miss Jones to be fired. Some called for FCC action, including Councilman John Liu (D-Queens). Liu also said if WQHT is serious about remorse, its parent, Emmis, "should donate a week's worth of ad revenue to tsunami relief."

"The Tsunami Song" was created to get attention - like everything else on radio or any other entertainment medium. Getting people to notice is the whole point.

On morning radio in particular, that often means making the audience wonder just how far these wacky folks will go.

As the protests built last week, Hot 97 first played it cool. Morning team member Miss Info, who is of Asian descent, distanced herself from the song, but Hot 97 played it and posted it on the station Web site.

On Friday morning, as protests got louder, Miss Jones called it "my first boycott," and said she would play the song once more just to show that protesters can't dictate what goes on the air.

A few hours later, the station posted its apology, which the morning team repeated Monday. By yesterday, the team's on-air references to the issue were oblique, like joking they should stay away from gay or homeless jokes because "we don't want anyone else mobilizing."

Critics vow to keep up the pressure. Asian groups say the station needs to do more. Liu wants "strict accountability" for the week's salary that Hot 97 says the morning team is donating to tsunami relief. Internet petitions have collected thousands of signatures calling for the Miss Jones team to be "fired and blacklisted."

So Hot is keeping its head down. But Hot has been here before, with other storms, and has ridden most of them out. The bottom-line defense is, "We're not hating on you. We go after everyone."

Meanwhile, on a week when former Hot 97 morning host Star returned on rival hip-hop station WWPR (105.1 FM), Hot grabbed a huge chunk of attention.

So at what point does an attentiongetting device attract too much of the wrong kind? And is there any such thing?
 
I saw a video a couple weeks ago. I'm goin to hell - I ended up laughing my ass off.

The racial slurs in this song were unnecessary though.
 
I saw this story on O'Reilly last night. People want the FCC to get involved. Over bad taste? It was an amusing little ditty with absolutely no redeeming quality & little in the way of social niceties.

It worked. Instead of a few thousand listeners to a failing morning radio show, they now have millions. Great PR.
 
The music sucked
the singing sucked
the words sucked
I don't think I'll rush out and buy the CD. :p :thumbdn:

It didn't make me mad really, but I though it was very distasteful,
but then it seems 50% of the rap type stuff out there now is.

It's kinda funny to me that the TV/news... , and public figures, and
other things have to be PC, but now the music. :confused:

As for the DJ that played it, it mighta been a bad judgment call, but
I don't really see where it should be a job threating one.

As for the stations ratings, only time will tell. :confused:
 
Great PR? I strongly disagree. I know the bit about there's no such thing as bad publicity but, in this case, they could well get their license revoked over this. The FCC doesn't fuck around anymore. This is the one instance in which I would actually side with the FCC if they decided to go that route.

There is nothing remotely humorous about this song. If you listen to the extended clip, you'll even hear the idiot DJ, Miss Jones, deriding her Asian cohost as having a superiority complex because she's Asian. What a schmuck. She's been suspended indefinitely, but I don't think that's good enough. Her bosses deserve even harsher penalties.

BTW, I was pleased to learn that the hiphop community has condemned this stunt. There's hope yet.
 
Why should they get their license revoked? They didn't break any laws or rules, other than taste.
 
Leslie said:
I saw a video a couple weeks ago. I'm goin to hell - I ended up laughing my ass off.

The racial slurs in this song were unnecessary though.

I'd rather have a "Funky Cold Medina" :swing:
 
Gonz said:
Why should they get their license revoked? They didn't break any laws or rules, other than taste.
For the same reasons that countless other stations are being threatened with the same. They are using the public airwaves to promote hatred and discrimination. I'd say that's a far worse offense than a so-called wardrobe malfunction.
 
Hatred & discrimination? Your liberalis leftis is showing...there is nothing wrong with hatred & discrimination in an open forum. Remember the first amendment? They are allowed to speak it. They just aren't guaranteed an audience.
 
Only took three replies for the label to come out. You're getting better at baiting Gonz. :p

Anyone know if Howard is doing the same, poking fun at Tsunami victims and/or racial slurs aimed at that disaster? This Hot 97 thing sounds like something Howard would do. And judging by his antics and ensuing ratings hikes, and his trouble with the FCC, it sounds like they're taking a cue from him.
 
Not taking the bait, Gonz. Quite frankly, your tactics are getting quite tiresome.

Howard Stern says a lot of awful things -- has even used the word "Chinamen" before (though he seems to frown on the word "chink"), but this is even beneath him. It's offensive enough to deride an entire race of people. The offense assumes a whole new level, however, when you mock the deaths of innocent thousands. Those hacks at Hot 97 don't have 1/100th the talent of a Howard Stern to pull off such a stunt successfully. They all try to imitate him, but miss the fact that he's actually an intelligent guy with a great sense of humor. All they hear is "Chinamen" and assume that repeating that term in any context, minus the wit and agility with satire, will make them as successful as he is. They have been proven wrong time and time again.

Freedom of speech has its limits, as anyone with good sense knows. You're not allowed to cause a panic by jokingly screaming "fire!!" in a movie theater, and you clearly can't say whatever the fuck you want, whenever the fuck you want on PUBLIC American airwaves. Write your congressman if you disagree.
 
The music sucked
the singing sucked
the words sucked


agreed. I tried to sign the petion but I do not think it let me. Abooja: As much as I hate to admit it, I think they have hate speech as being protected.
 
Try this link.

About the hate speech being protected...I'm not so sure that's true anymore. Try broadcasting a similar parody, but substitute the word "niggers" or "diaperheads" for "chinks" and see how far you get. Given world events, such hatemongering disguised as humor can easily be perceived as an attempt to incite riots or worse.
 
yes it went through. As far as it being protected well: you can say hate filled things as the song showed. People will and can complain but many racists will hide behind the first amendment. I wish it was not protected since I think racism should be ended. Or at least tolerance preached rather than hate
 
abooja said:
Not taking the bait, Gonz. Quite frankly, your tactics are getting quite tiresome.

What bait? You are following a line of thinking that fits with the left. :shrug:

abooja said:
Freedom of speech has its limits, as anyone with good sense knows. You're not allowed to cause a panic by jokingly screaming "fire!!" in a movie theater, and you clearly can't say whatever the fuck you want, whenever the fuck you want on PUBLIC American airwaves. Write your congressman if you disagree.

Yelling FIRE! in a crowded movie theater has the probability to threaten safety. Singing "Chink" shows you're a dimwitted idiot. I'm not defending what they did. I'm defending their right to do it.

As for writing your congressmen, right on. Go for it. I do. At this point there is not a federal law against stupidity nor should there be.
 
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