Al Weisel
Sticky Situation
By Al Weisel
Rolling Stone, August 8, 1994
A new warning label on MC Eiht's hit CD raises some Epic questions
In a move that reflects the industry's increased skittishness about hardcore gangsta rap in the wake of recent congressional hearings, Epic Records, a division of Sony, has taken the unprecedented step of disavowing any responsibility for the lyrical content of one of its own releases. The company has stickered MC Eiht's new album We Come Strapped, with a second warning label—in addition to the standard PARENTAL ADVISORY EXPLICIT LYRICS label—that says THE LYRICAL CONTENT OF THIS ALBUM SOLELY EXPRESSES THE VIEWS OF THE ARTIST.
The sticker is apparently in response to a song called "Take 2 With Me," about a drug dealer who, fearing the police are out to kill him, vows to carry through on the promise of the title. At one point, referring to Los Angeles police chief Willie Williams, Eiht raps, "Heard them whisper, 'Chief Williams, two officers down.'"
Epic released a brief statement explaining the move: "On his solo debut album We Come Strapped, MC Eiht uses powerful imagery which is intense and often graphic. Some may find his views disturbing. We are opposed to censorship and support MC Eiht's right to express his views. After discussion with the artist and his manager, all of us agreed in the wording and use of a second sticker. MC Eiht's manager, John Smith, was fully aware of plans for the sticker and commented: 'MC Eiht and I applaud Epic for giving MC Eiht the platform to express his views.'"
Eiht calls the record company's action "an escape hatch. If the plane starts goin' down, that's their parachute." According to Eiht, he did not find out about the sticker until three days before the scheduled July 11 release date, when he was informed that the release was being delayed a week. "First they told me it was because of reorders," he says. "But then an inside source told me it was because of a sticker being placed on the album." Eiht's manager, Smith, was then asked by Epic for his approval, though he says the decision to sticker the album was presented for the most part as a fait accompli. "They said, 'This is what we're going to do, OK?'" Smith says that although he was "dismayed" by Epic's action, he was reassured by the fact that the company had "put together a very aggressive marketing campaign." The record entered the Billboard R&B chart at No. 1 and the pop album chart at No. 5.
Others in the record industry denounced the move. "What this label does," says National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences president Michael Greene (who stresses that his organization has taken no official stand on the matter), "is say we will sign you, we will record you, and we will advertise your product, but we absolutely will not support your right to say what you are saving. It's no different than people sitting up in a mansion, having their minions selling drugs and saying, 'Hey, I have nothing to do with this.'"
Jorge Hinojosa, manager of Ice-T, whose group, Body Count, left Sire Records as a result of the controversy ignited by the song "Cop Killer," says, "They're stupid if they think that's going to pacify people. When has it ever been thought that a record company concurred with the artist on anything? Did they concur that Billie Jean was not Michael Jackson's lover?"
Smith speculates that the sticker might be Epic's way of indemnifying itself against lawsuits, though he says, "It doesn't hold legal water." Although Epic would not comment beyond the statement it released, a source at the company contends that legal indemnification is not the rationale: The source says the company feels that the Recording Industry Association of America's parental-advisory sticker, which deals only with obscenity, did not cover the issues Eiht raises.
RIAA vice president of communications Tim Sites says his group "doesn't have a problem" with a second warning sticker as long as it does not supplant theirs but also notes his belief that the RIAA sticker is sufficient to warn parents.
Eiht says that being the first artist in history to be double stickered was "like winning an award for being the most controversial rapper." Bruce Rogow, the attorney who defended 2 Live Crew against obscenity charges, says the sticker may signal the beginning of an effort by record companies to "distance themselves from everything but the blandest music." He also offers a more cynical explanation for the action: "Maybe Sony sees this as a great marketing tool," he says. "Nothing is better for sales than censorship."■
Al Weisel is the co-author, with Larry Frascella, of Live Fast, Die Young: The Wild Ride of Making Rebel Without a Cause, being published in October 2005.