10 Artists Who Changed Their Problematic Lyrics

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10 Artists Who Changed Their Problematic Lyrics

“Let me get one thing straight: I never want to encourage derogatory language.”

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What she said later: “Let me get one thing straight: I never want to encourage derogatory language. As a fat black woman in America, many hurtful words have been used against me to help me understand the power words can have (whether intentional or, in my case, unintentional),” Lizzo said in a expression. “I am proud to announce that there is a new version of ‘GRRRLS’ with changed lyrics. This is the result of my listening and acting. As an influential artist, I want to be part of the change I’ve been waiting for.”

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What she said later: “Well the way I would say that and the way I feel that kind of pain is very different,” she told MTV in 2011.

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What they later said about it: “I am a 26 year old person. And yes, a proud feminist. Just maybe not perfect,” lead singer Hayley Williams said of track 7. “What irked me was that I’d done so much soul already – researching it years before anyone else decided there was a problem…me was a 17 year old kid when I wrote the lyrics in question and if I can somehow illustrate what it means to grow up I get it information and any shade of ‘waking up’ then that’s A-OK for me.”

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What they later said about it: While the band never apologized for the song, they re-released it a year later with the new name and lyrics.

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What she said later: “I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I don’t sing it. I sing ‘Ultraviolence’ but I don’t sing that line anymore. Having someone aggressive in a relationship was the only relationship I knew ‘ she told Pitchfork in 2017.

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What they later said about it: “I share responsibility and sincerely apologize for the pain this has caused. People with autism have brilliant and creative minds and their gifts should not be belittled or belittled,” Drake wrote in a statement. “This was a lesson for both of us and I’m grateful for the opportunity to try to right that mistake. J. Cole and I believe that removing the lyrics from the song is the right, responsible and respectful decision.”

J. Cole also apologized.

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What he said later: “It has come to my attention that the lyrics to my contribution to another artist’s song deeply offended your family,” Lil Wayne wrote in an open letter to the Tills. “As a father myself, I cannot imagine the pain your family has endured. […] I will not perform live the lyrics containing this reference and have removed them from my catalogue.”

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What he said later: For the 10th anniversary of the Born like this album, Lady Gaga selected several LGBTQ artists to record their own versions of some of the songs. In its re-recording, Orville Peck has taken it upon himself to update some of the track’s poorly aged lyrics. He never publicly addressed the text change.

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What they later said about it: Because of its homophobic language, the 1985 song featuring Sting was banned from airing on Canadian radio stations. However, the decision was reversed in 2011. Former Dire Straits vocalist and lead guitarist Mark Knopfler changed them when he performs them live. Dire Straits has never publicly addressed the lyric change.

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What he said later: The King of Pop was unaware of how anti-Semitic his lyrics were, telling Diane Sawyer in an interview that “it’s not anti-Semitic because I’m not a racist person.” Thankfully, Jackson later came to his senses and re-recorded the insensitive lyrics. Despite this, the original lyrics still made it into both of the song’s music videos — the Brazil version and the prison version — but with loud sound effects over the insults.

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