Playboi Carti‘s quick cameo on The Weeknd’s 2023 single “Popular” appears to be the latest Hip Hop verse to take on a much more G-rated meaning, thanks to the good folks at Kidz Bop.
The brand has been cleaning up more adult versions of songs for younger generations for years, and on Saturday (January 20), fans discovered a family-friendly version of the track from The Idol soundtrack, which also featured a quick verse from Madonna.
“Money on top of me, money on top of her/ money on top of me, money on top of her/ If shawty hangs with me, she know I’m popular,” the new version raps.
Check it out below.
Playboi Carti’s “Popular” verse gets the Kidz Bop treatmenthttps://t.co/3Yh0bOWXIApic.twitter.com/kXLB2ON7rY
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) January 21, 2024
The Kidz Bop version of “Popular” certainly has gone over better with the Hip Hop community than the recent viral video of young girls dancing to Drake & Sexyy Red‘s “Rich Baby Daddy.”
Even though the video, which went viral earlier this month, featured the youngsters self-editing out phrases like “bend that ass over, let that coochie breathe,” it still earned the ire of rapper and social activist Dee-1, who thinks things have gone too far.
In a video posted to X/Twitter on January 2, the “Taking a Chance on Me” rapper can be seen watching the video pensively before sharing his thoughts with the masses.
“This ain’t cool, man,” he said of the performance, which has drawn both praise and criticism. “And this ain’t cute. But the real question is, what are we going to do about it? It takes artists to make the music, it takes fans to support the music, and it takes adults to figure out what they’re going to expose their kids to. Right?”
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He continued: “So first off, as fans, you gotta make sure you’re not supporting this, and you’re not promoting this type of music. Matter of fact, you really need to be vocal that you’re opposed to this, if you really have a problem with it.
“As artists, we just gotta decide when we wanna stop being manipulated, man,” he concluded. “And letting them use us as pawns.”
As for Playboi Carti, he hasn’t taken his foot off the gas since the start of 2024 as the song and video for “Eviljordan” arrived on Tuesday (January 16) via his Opium label’s Instagram page. His array of new tracks have not yet hit streaming services.
This latest song finds the Atlanta native invading Cardo and Johnny Juliano’s twitchy, thumping 808 production with a short-of-breath flow.
“This not a rockstar phase/ I’m an emo-thug in my face,” he raps before receiving some help from DJ Swamp Izzo. “Disrespect the 5, I put your ass in the food chain.”
The accompanying music video is shot in what appears to be Carti’s mansion. He can be seen rocking Hood By Air and a fur coat while sipping from a Hello Kitty mug and showing off a Mr. Bungle vinyl.
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