YG and Big Sean are furious over the censorship of a specific lyric from their hit single “Big Bank” on the Madden NFL 19 soundtrack. The artists recently called out the NFL and EA Sports for censoring a lyric that references Colin Kaepernick.
According to videos posted on Twitter, the lyric that was censored says: “you boys all cap, I’m more Colin Kaepernick.” Kaepernick’s name was reported omitted from the song.
?“You boys all cap, I'm more Colin Kaepernick”
Wait, did Madden bleep out Kap? ?
(via @jeanclervil) pic.twitter.com/mzQ6u0QpNb
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 2, 2018
Big Sean took to Twitter on Thursday (Aug. 2) to share his disapproval of the power move. “It’s disappointing and appalling @NFL & @EA took @Kaepernick7’s name out of my verse on Big Bank for Madden 19, like it was a curse word,” the rapper wrote. “When he’s not a curse, he’s a gift! Nobody from my team approved any of this.” TMZ also exclusively reported that YG is very upset by the edit and is demanding answers immediately. “NFL you owe us an apology,” the rapper wrote on Instagram.
As you may know, there has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding Colin Kaepernick after the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback took a knee during the national anthem at a football game in 2016. He has since been blacklisted from any team on the NFL. Even so, he inspired many other players to follow his lead, bringing up a conversation about athletes, politics, and police brutality.
After backlash from YG, Big Sean, and fans alike, EA issued an apology for the edit. “We made an unfortunate mistake with our Madden NFL soundtrack. Members of our team misunderstood the fact that while we don’t have rights to include Colin Kaepernick in the game, this doesn’t affect soundtracks,” the statement reads. “We messed up, and the edit should never have happened. We will make it right, with an update to Madden NFL 19 on August 6 that will include the reference again. We meant no disrespect, and we apologize to Colin, to YG and Big Sean, to the NFL, to all of their fans and our players for this mistake.”
It’s disappointing and appalling @NFL & @EA took @Kaepernick7’s name out of my verse on Big Bank for Madden 19, like it was a curse word. When he's not a curse, he's a gift! Nobody from my team approved any of this.
— Sean Don (@BigSean) August 2, 2018