were referencing something sex-related with the shiny new phrase cake by the ocean (and they were), but Kidz Bop predictably chose to make it literal. And since mentioning God is generally against the rules, “So you pray to God” shifted to “So you pray a lot.” The resulting song is a jumble of mixed messages that mean nothing, but as they say: Just let it rock. “And you do your crime” became “And you stand in line,” and “So he stuck his middle finger to the world” became “So he raised his hand and waved it to the world,” among other edits. Kevin Rudolf’s 2008 rap rock anthem was simply too anti-establishment to toe the line without some updates. The lyric “And when she on the molly she a zombie,” for example, got swapped for “And when she hear this song she dances crazy.” And rather than risk parents’ having to answer questions from curious kids about the fraught relationship between Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, “She think we Clyde and Bonnie, but it's more like Whitney, Bobby” became “She thinks I’m like a party but she’s really more a smarty.” (Meaning unclear.) 2. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper, and Lil WayneĭJ Khaled’s 2017 chart-topper gave the Kidz Bop creators a perfect opportunity to employ what’s arguably their most beloved mantra: Any song can be about dancing if you try hard enough (or at all). Here are 11 of the weirdest-or best, or worst, or laziest, or funniest-Kidz Bop covers for your amusement. Though Kidz Bop can’t really hold a candle to the original songs, and experts have questioned whether the censorship is even effective, listening to aggressively cheerful (and frankly very talented) kids belt out sterilized refrains is its own type of entertainment. The study also revealed that censorship in Kidz Bop songs has pretty steadily increased since the first album debuted in 2001, so the conventions mentioned above don’t necessarily apply (or, at least, don’t consistently apply) to tracks from the early aughts.
Bullets-even in metaphorical phrases like dodge a bullet-are generally updated to something less violent and though praying is fine, praying to God is not. Kissing, for example, is frequently omitted, as is the word touch.
While it’s not difficult to guess which categories are most problematic (alcohol and drugs, sexual references, violence, profanity, etc.), you might be surprised about specific words that get cut. In 2020, The Pudding did a deep dive into Kidz Bop songs to find out what exactly falls under the censorship hammer. But sanitizing all manner of unsuitable content across genres is hardly straightforward, and the edited versions run the gamut from totally nonsensical to still vaguely inappropriate. When it comes to kid-friendly covers of pop music, Kidz Bop has been at the top of the food chain (and the charts) for 20 years.
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