Despacito got banned by RTM?! We asked 2 ex-RTM DJs how songs can get into trouble.

As many of you have heard, the Communications and Multimedia Ministry just banned the song “Despacito” from RTM channels, which basically includes radio stations like Muzik FM, AI FM and Nasional FM and TV channels. The decision was made after the RTM panel received public complaints about the sexual nature of the song.

“RTM has stopped the song on all RTM radio stations and over RTM TV with immediate effect.” – minister Salleh Said Keruak told Free Malaysia Today

For those of you that have a life, Despacito is a Spanish song that’s so viral now, that it recently became the most streamed song of ALL TIME!! But like most pop songs today, the lyrics are suggestive of naughty things la.

In light of this, we asked two ex-RTM DJs about how they pick what songs to play, and what might get a song banned on Malaysia airwaves.

 

Actually Radio DJs don’t even get to pick their own songs  😥

In an article we did sometime ago, we found out that DJs actually don’t pick their own songs anymore. In a process called “massaging the logs”, a computer picks the songs based on song beats, and then the song list is edited to fit the ambiance of the day.

In terms of banning and censorship, the gomen does check the songs before they go live to the public, but some songs that passed can still get in trouble if complaints are lodged against it. But radio stations need to pandai-pandai also la, because they need to jaga what they put on air also.

“Usually someone makes a complaint then they will take the song down. But then other songs that have almost same meaning or worse might not get taken down if no one complained.” – ex-DJ 1

“Radio stations usually need to self regulate lah, because it will affect their license to broadcast.” – ex-DJ 2

It didn’t seem fair for Despacito to be getting all the attention, so we’re suggesting a list of songs that RTM might want to consider banning too. As usual, SAYS.com beat us to it with a list of they own… at least we got some good quotes, right?

 

1. Shape of You -Ed Sheeran

Before being replaced by Despacito, remember having to hear this hecking song on the every radio station? We thought Ed Sheeran only sing those romantic lovey-dovey songs one, but the the more we listen, the more we realise how wrong we are:

Ooi hello, magnets only stick to the whiteboards and fridge doors, where got so active pushing and pulling one. And you know why “your bedsheet smell like you” la, but then again the main character in the song could have spent the night on the living room couch. Anyway, there’s plenty of other songs in his album, no need to spam only one song non-stop.

 

2. Take Me to Church – Hozier

This song was also quite popular when it first came out, but not a lot of people actually know the lyrics. Very clearly from the title, it’s would have caused a lot of uproar with some people. The original music video for party rock anthem had a scene of a break dancer that resembled Jesus, but it was censored here. Even the mention of “hallelujah” in Justin Bieber’s As Long As You Love Me was cut.

More than containing potentially provocative religious content, it’s also suspiciously hinting at some kind of human worship, while suggesting suicidal behaviour. Both DJs told us, mentions of sex, foul language, alcohol, and drugs would usually need to be censored, but as long as it’s “vague enough“, it would usually pass. Looks like the ministry might need to revise their filters.

 

3. 2 Become 1 – Spice Girls

Going back in time for a little bit, those of us who were young that time remember this very sexy beautiful and talented girl group, and their not so subtle song title. There’s really not a lot of things that can 2 become 1 lorh. Maggi mee maybe?

Yea maggi mee is pretty good at anytime of the day. But interestingly, there seems to be a deeper message hidden in the lyrics if you read the last bridge, and it seems like they’re advocating… safe sex?

Wah not bad, but does this make the rest of the song acceptable? We’ll leave it to the experts to decide.

 

4. FXXK IT – by Big Bang

One common criticism of the Despacito ban is the language barrier. If people don’t know Spanish, how would they know that the lyrics are sexually charged? That’s a good question, and it’s why our suggestions cannot be limited to English songs only.

You can see the poetry gradually minimise from the first sentence onward, and then it just suddenly and completely stops.

What are kids listening to these days?! It may sound innocent and cool in Korean, but what if people start purposely searching up the lyrics like we did?!

 

5. I Am Me – Dato Seri Vida

Not to be confused with Here I am by Bryan Adams or even This is Me by Demi Lovato, I am Me is a song that is making rounds on Malaysian social media, by the one and only Qu Puteh CEO and Ambassador. But why should we consider banning this? We’re glad you asked:

• Encouraging delusions, including one about being a cat #meow
• Indecency committed against a golden statue
• Forcing a meme
• Actually making people consider that censorship might be good

To be honest, we would much rather listen to Despacito again… no, not really. Maybe they can use the song as medicine instead: play it to people in a coma and they might wake up and switch off the radio themselves. 

 

6. Beep – The Pussycat Dolls

Haa Haa Haaa, wah why the singers so happy at the start of this song? With all the grace of an explosive diarrhea, the song pretty much speaks/sings(?) for itself.

The song probably got passed because the producers were smart enough to do the censorship themselves, rather than go through the process of getting rejected.

On the topic of weird songs, Mr.Ex-DJ 1 admits that they had some pretty weird songs in the system. He recalls the Ding Dong Song and My Wena among those that he saw passed in his time.

 

7. Invisible – Clay Aiken

While not actually containing any of the elements that would usually warrant a ban, this song gave us more goosebumps than Hello (Lionel Richie) or Every breathe you take could ever give. Just read this:

Did you just- seriously?? The current censorship seems to suggest that it’s OK to be a creepy stalker. At least it’s not a creepy AND foul mouth stalker that’s also into drugs and alcohol. We hope you’ll still be invisible when the police gets here, now get out of that person’s room.

 

The gomen had some pretty weird reasons to ban songs in the past

The gomen has had a bunch of weird reasons to ban songs in the past. Back in 1981, RTM banned a song called “Goyang Goyang, Dansa Bersama” by Yasmin Yusuf, because it went against the morals of the Malay society. At one point, they were also banning songs that were bilingual!

According to this list of songs censored and banned in Malaysia, it’s actually not very often that songs get completely banned by the gomen. So Despacito really touched a very angry nerve, or maybe someone in RTM just couldn’t stand listening to it for 1 more second.

Anyway, there’s a lesson to be learnt from all this, and that is to enjoy the good things slowly, and not putting a dang song on repeat for a whole week.