I cannot believe that after the highly publicized hearings on album censorship that one can state, ”it would have been better if the company had decided not to distribute the song at all” (”Giving the hook to `Cop Killer` ,” Aug. 4).
”Cop Killer” is just a song, that`s it! It is lyrics added to a steady beat of music. It would be ludicrous to think after hearing ”Cop Killer,”
one would be driven to commit murder. Moreover, if any song incites somebody to go against societal values and kill, chances are the person was unstable enough not to need a song to push them over the brink.
Censorship is censorship, whether it comes from a government agency, public interest group or Time Warner. It should not be viewed as ”inevitable whenever artists cannot have everything they want.” It is wrong for anyone to tell me the politically, ethically or socially responsible thing to listen to. I, as an adult, feel it is my responsibility to choose what to listen to and what to avoid.
Ice-T says the song`s message was misunderstood; it was-by individuals who believe that police harassment is a myth and whose picture of ”ghetto”
life is what they read in newspapers. Thank you, Ice-T, for expressing your opinion on a matter that is largely ignored, except for the occasional ”Boys `n` the Hood” or Rodney King video.
