Sho Baraka has become the latest victim of having a bookstore pull his music from their shelves for language deemed “offensive.”
The offending word was from the song “Piano Break, 33 A.D.” Sho raps, “I was an insecure boy who just thought he was a genius/ But always pissed off, that’s because I thought with my penis.”
The reference in which the word was used wasn’t profane in any way. It was meant to reflect back on his life of sin.
According to the Washington Post, customers complained to LifeWay about the harsh language and the bookstore confirmed that pulling the record was their next course of action.
Sho’s album, The Narrative, is already being considered a Christian Hip-Hop classic with its strong message and heavy gospel content that hits the listener with thought provoking lyrics.
“Like any retailer, LifeWay has a responsibility not to carry resources with content our customers consider inappropriate,” Marty King, a spokesman for LifeWay said to Washington Post. “After receiving complaints about some language in The Narrative cd, LifeWay decided to no longer carry it.”
Back in 2012, author Rachel Held Evans had her book pulled for using the word “vagina.”
This appears to be a standard move to keep customers happy, however, Sho thinks it is something deeper.
“Everyone on both sides wants to censor the person that doesn’t fit their narrative,” Baraka said. “The moment someone like me communicates something like this, who’s the one being censored now?”
He believes the disconnect comes from a combination of race, evangelicalism in America, and a double standard.
To read more about Sho’s thoughts on this, click here.
