Melissa "Lizzo" Jefferson is one of the hottest performers out there, having been nominated for eight awards at the 62nd Annual Grammys and being TIME Magazine's 2019 Entertainer of the Year. It only makes sense that Harmonix Music Systems would want to add one of her songs into Rock Band 4, but a few hours after Lizzo's hit "Juice" became available in the 2015 party music game it was pulled for including explicit lyrics.
"Juice" was added on April 23 as DLC for $1.99 alongside The Strokes' "Bad Decisions," which is discounted for its first two weeks. According to the Rock Band 4 blog post advertising these additions, "Juice" is "a fiery, bouncy jam that makes every day feel like summer" while preaching self-love. However, the version released did not censor Lizzo's use of expletives and an updated version will be put out "likely late next week" according to the Rock Band Twitter account.
The decision has sparked something of a maelstrom in the Tweet's comments, as some applaud the developers for working to keep the game appropriate for all audiences while others feel it isn't right to censor a piece of art — especially as some fans point out an inconsistent history of that on different songs. While the game was initially a failure for publisher Mad Catz, it has had a long shelf life thanks to the addition of new songs over time.
One Rock Band 4 player asked whether the removal of Lizzo's "Juice" would affect the game's weekly spotlight song, but the Rock Band Twitter account assured them that "Bad Decisions" is currently the spotlight song and will be "unaffected." The fact that Harmonix is still working on Rock Band 4 this late into its life is admirable, especially after they announced a DJing game called Fuser.
Lizzo as an artist is fairly well-known for her boisterous personality and energetic songs, songs that are not afraid to throw around the occasional expletive between flute solos. Regardless of one's stance on the censorship debate, it's surprising that Harmonix let her song through without either using a clean version or at least marking the track as explicit, especially with over 10 years of history under the Rock Band franchise's belt.
This is not the first time that a modern musical icon has collided with the video game industry. Late last year fellow Grammy-winning artist Billie Eilish revealed her hit song "Bad Guy" uses the same melody as Plants vs. Zombies.
Rock Band 4 is available now for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Source: Harmonix Music Blog, The Grammys, TIME Magazine