Source
r/popheads•
ContemplativeJoey

Why do most radio stations cut the rap out of songs?

[DISCUSSION]

Whenever I listen to local stations, or even Sirius XM stations like Hits 1/Blend, I notice that whenever there's a song with a rap feature, they cut it out completely. And if a song with mostly rap gets really popular, you'd never know if you only listened to local radio or Sirius XM. For example, I would never have known how successful XO Tour Llif3 or Bad and Boujee was I didn't follow the Billboard Hot 100 every week. Also, I was listening to Hits 1 today and they played Feels by Calvin Harris, and completely cut out the Big Sean part. I'd also have never known Future had a feature on Maroon 5's Cold. Like, really? What's the point of doing something like that? Who does it benefit?

Posted Jul 16, 2017, 6:48 PM UTC

3743
joey_fatass•

Because white suburban soccer moms think "rap is crap" and don't want to hear it, and they like to whine and complain when their family friendly stations play that "ignorant rap garbage".

76
IdontSparkle•

They may cut it out to better market to radio listeners...

... but rap features in pop songs are also a marketing gimmick to begin with, often they only exist to gain more male listeners; an audience & legitimacy outside pop. More often than not they're unnecessary and lazy. The two artists never even meet and the rapper just e-mailed their .mp3 file on request. Obviously there are many exceptions.

So i'm actually quite glad we can listen to the full-on pop versions too.

15
raadude_yusufstorm•

Fuck parents and their 'opinions'

3
corndogs1001•

Parents just don't understand

12
throwaway_350•

no one will say it but it's 100% racism

65
ContemplativeJoeyOP•

Yeah I'm starting to think that too. Stations I listen to will happily play Macklemore, Machine Gun Kelly, G-Eazy but will cut out the tiny verse from a black rapper in a song.

27
omgcow•

Honestly this. That's why I side eye "rap free" radio stations.

16
PM_ME_REINHARDT_R34•

Mostly but not 100%. Most rap features on pop songs are shitty (look at kendricks 2016 features) and not a good representation of the genre. Like if you had to judge Kanye's music, his ET verse wouldn't be a good example.

7
ZachArch18•

I assume you're referring solely to The Greatest and Don't Wanna Know.

3
stevielogs•

Well Top 40 is always at least half shitty and they'll play that no problem. Pop radio success is never based totally on quality of the music, "rap free radio stations" exist because rap is the genre most associated with black artists and white listeners will tune out due to the gangster rap lifestyle stereotype aka racism.

2
yumomnom•

There's a staion here whose slogan is "playing all the hits...without the rap". But they have no problem playing Ed Sheeran's rap songs or Mackelmore

7
KayneWest2020•

As far as I can tell, they just cut anything vaguely threatening or edgy. So a Macklemore or Pitbull song can still get played, but if they reference drugs or violence, they're gonna cut the verse/song.

38
Altiondsols•

yeah it's not specifically a rap thing, i remember back when Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Face Down was played on top 40 pop radio they cut out the screamo verse

the question is more "why do people see rap as inherently threatening or edgy"

the answer is "racism"

48
ITreeStars•

They didn't cut it out, they just recorded it being sung instead of screamed

2
ghostofpennwast•

quit seeing racism where there isn't any.

If a white rapper were rapping about pimps hoes and gangbanging, of course they'd be censured as well

-5
Altiondsols•

and yet there are verses by black rappers that mention none of those things and still get cut

9
ContemplativeJoeyOP•

Like the Kendrick verse from The Greatest by Sia

1
theNealCutter•

I remember when the rap from twenty one pilots' Ride was cut off at Didney Worl. They ruined the point of the song.

12
NotEvenAFanOfTumblr•

IIRC, it was censored due to referencing guns/bullets. Nevertheless, the censorship did ruin the song.

6
stevielogs•

Does anyone remember hearing a censored version of "Lean On" that had "blow a kiss, into the sun"? Now they play the original version (around me at least) but I heard the censored version all the time in summer 2015.

3
corndogs1001•

Yeah but Left Eyes verse in waterfalls gets cut out a lot. THAT VERSION SHOULD BE ILLEGAL.

7
TheDopeCantaloupe•

Thrift shop had some pretty darn edgy lyrics and it was everywhere, also Downtown.

1
Shadowhead•

They do it for the pearl-clutching suburban soccer moms in SUVs who have never met an actual black person, so that the music isn't too "ethnic" (read: black at all) for 12-year-old Jayden's sensitive white-ass lil ears

Also, no rap = less time in the song = more time for commercials = $$$

21
bi-cycle•

tfw when your bluelivesmatter friend actually has a child named Jaiden

13
onedanceisoursong•

I'm from a small town in Canada and the same thing happens here. We have five radio stations and the one who plays "today's hits" has no rap and no rap features. They do play some Drake songs and Macklemore. It wasn't always like that; when I was younger I remember hearing In Da Club and Eminem on the radio all the time.

My best guess is that they are catering towards an older demographic who thinks of rap music as being full of foul language and overly violent/sexual themes. Radio stations here are often played in offices, shops, etc. so there's probably pressure to keep it "family friendly". I also think it has a lot to do with racism. White rappers get a pass but a clean feature on a pop track is cut out, wtf. A lot of young people don't listen to the radio here and it probably has to do with them not playing what is really popular music.

7
closest•

Because they'd have to pay an extra on top of the 160K.

7
tcatron565•

Demographics. Pop stations usually won't unless they are in an area where rap just isn't that popular. Any stations geared more towards adult pop will usually wait it out, though, and that's because their core listeners don't want to hear that. Rhythmic stations usually won't either since their key demographic would love to hear rap verses.

5
pie_kun•

I wonder if it might be to cut down the length of the song and fit in more time for commercials? I haven't seen my local radio stations cut the rap parts out of songs, but I do see them do some really strange things to cut down lengths of songs. For example, whenever they play Starships by Nicki Minaj they cut out the post-chorus breakdown/drop and it sounds really awkward.

4
shy247er•

I wonder if it might be to cut down the length of the song and fit in more time for commercials?

It's a possibility. Some stations also speed-up songs just slightly in order to fit in more commercial time.

12
kirby31200•

TBS does this to sitcoms, especially Seinfeld.

7
laggia•

I think it makes it sound better too, to me at least

2
Altiondsols•

go listen to nightcore remixes

7
Altiondsols•

i didn't realize that speeding up songs on the radio was that commonplace but i remember hearing a sped-up version of Dangerous Woman and it was pretty awful

1
ILOVEGLADOS•

I remember hearing about how a radio station once cut out Nelly from the rap remix of a Florida-Georgia Line song.

They didn't play the original version, they just removed the rapper out of the rap remix. Figures.

3
NotEvenAFanOfTumblr•

Todd In The Shadows, is that you?

1
smarterthanyoda•

My guess would be because they want to avoid the dynamics in the raps.

They know a lot of people listen to radio in the background while they do other things. An abrupt change, like a rap verse, grabs your attention and distracts from what you're doing.

They take out the rap just because it doesn't fit with the format they want, soft pop you can listen to in the background.

2
artpalos•

I'm pretty sure Yoda has a better answer than this

2
chihuahuazero•

The Adult Pop/Contemporary Pop/Hot AC stations do this, and they're often played in public over the Top 40, Rhythmic, and Urban stations because the contemporary formats are considered less offensive than the hippies stations.

Try looking for other stations in your area and on Sirius XM, unless you're in a region that prefers Christian and country music.

2
Leafsfan83•

I'm a bit late to the thread, but my local pop station plays a version of See You Again that has barely any Wiz in it. It's like 90% Charlie Puth with only the little refrains Wiz does before the chorus still included in the song. It's terrible.

Also, Hits 1 on SiriusXM plays a version of I'm The One with Quavo and Lil Wayne removed. But Chance is still included

2
ContemplativeJoeyOP•

I never understood why Hits 1 removes 2/3 rappers from I'm The One. Honestly I'm starting to really get sick of Hits 1 and the way they cut people out, overplay shit, and their stupid countdown.

2
Argelicious•

Rap/Hip Hop is toxic to the General(Read White) Population especially Sponsors.

Every CHR station here in San Diego will play songs with Raps in them. The Whitest formats like HAC/AC would rather not play anything from a Black hiphop/rnb artist at all (Surprisingly they will play Snoop's California Gurls verse)

2
Wide_right_yes•

the only rap sections played on ac radio stations in my area are the wiz parts of see you again and the rapish sections in 21 pilots and shake it of.

1
thegifmastuur•

That shit is wack, and the people that demand it likely are, too.

That being said, I've never actually heard a radio station where I live do that. The pop stations always keep the raps. Even at a local supermarket, I heard Work From Home once and they kept Ty $ verse.

Some rap stations will only play pop songs if there's a remix with a rapper though, I.e. That's What I Like. I guess adding Gucci to it is the only thing that makes the song tolerable lol ...

0