Features

All Categories

Ohio Radio Station Censors LeBron James From Jay-Z Song

Prince Williams, Getty Images

Cleveland fans do not easily forgive or forget.

When Cavaliers star LeBron James announced that he'd be leaving Cleveland for the Miami Heat, Cav's fans were crushed. Now, a Cleveland radio station has made steps to banish Lebron's name from Cleveland airwaves forever.

The line from Jay-Z's 2009 smash hit 'Empire State of Mind,' "[if] Jeezy's paying LeBron, I'm paying Dwayne Wade," has been censored to remove mention of the "traitor's" name on Cleveland's 96.5 KISS FM. KISS radio personality Joel "Java" Murphy explained that the edit was made out of concern for Cleveland fans.

"I was playing the song and realized that the word 'Lebron' is as offensive to some people as the 'Seven Words You Can't Say on the Radio,'" Java said. "So, I suggested to our programming department that we should treat the name 'LeBron' similarly."

While the Akron, Ohio native who promised to bring a national championship to his beleaguered city is no longer welcome on Cleveland's friendly airwaves, he did return to play a little ball recently, destroying his former team. "It was nothing personal for myself against the fans. It won't be, ever," LeBron said after the game. "I understand their frustration."

The feeling does not appear to be mutual.

Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys, 'Empire State of Mind'
CHECK OUT THE CONCERT
N/A N/A
N/A
Starting from N/A
Average Price N/A
SEE MORE TICKETS »
UPCOMING SHOWS IN YOUR AREA
- -
-
- -
-
- -
-

All the Jay-Z info you want to know

Sparks Fly When Baz Luhrmann Meets…

The Boombox

Don Emmert, Getty Images CRISTINA JALERU, Associated Press: Various Artists,…

Trina's 19-Year-Old Brother Goonkie…

The Boombox

Getty Images Trina's 19-year-old brother Wilbrent Bain Jr., aka Goonkie, was…

Jay-Z No Longer Owns Brooklyn Nets, Lil…

The Boombox

Evan Agostini, Invision Jay-Z will be gracing the cover of Time's 100 Most…

See all Jay-Z »

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

111 Comments

Filter by:
Don

Disloyal buck should be whipped and hamstrung.

December 20 2010 at 3:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Robert

you ohio people are just a bunch of whiney ass fans who didnt get what they wanted.get over it he didnt want to be there.

December 20 2010 at 3:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
urbanna

People in Cleveland are idiots! Get a life Cleveland fan. LeBron is gone so deal with it. It is better to Lebron and lost than to never have LeBron at all!

December 20 2010 at 3:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
donuscody

Name two people you'd like to hear less about for the rest of time? Palin and James

December 20 2010 at 3:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Gwinn

Are these children or grown-ups. These people need to get a life and realize Lebron has a plan for his life and is following-through. He did not need to consult anyone, no more that you or I need to consult others when making a personal decision to fulfill our dreams.

Grow up and stop whining about the spilled milk!

December 20 2010 at 3:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chuck Jacolucci

You Cleveland people are a sick bunch. If the people in Florida acted like you crybabies every time one of our Florida Marlins deserted, we would be wading in tears. :-/

December 20 2010 at 3:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
scott smith

MR RICK YOUR NAME SHOULD BE MR DICK. Typically you have completely mixed examples of music and completely left out FACTS about today's rap.
First, your reference to "KKK" is about as accurate as using the "N-word" to describe you.
Second, "non-singers"? Really? When rap is full of do nothings that use harmonizers, pro-tools, and just plain use illegible, negative, and hate speech. Talkin' about killin whitey, bangin hoes,etc
Third, Virtually nobody in rock, certainly not on a recorded song that is aired on radio, is smashing guitars anymore. That went out long ago. Punk, yes.
Fourth, I don't think you even want to discuss the black/rapper treatment of women, hoes, bitches, and "chicken heads".
Go put on your sideways ballcap, pull your hood back over your head and get back in the wellfare line.

December 20 2010 at 3:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
chris

While this is absolutely absurd, appears to be another "can't upset anyone (the fans), with music. Even more absurd is the comments by "mr. Rick" Note to Mr. Rick. This has nothing to do with racism. It is entirely the over fanatic sports fans.

December 20 2010 at 3:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
diamond

this is borderline stupidity! the man has a right to work where he wants. get over it morons!

December 20 2010 at 2:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
j57marie

Hey, all of you ,there are more important things to argue about, do you think Mr. James care if his name is block out of a song in Cleveland. haha please the radio should be using that air time for the housing market, the unemployed and the easiest way to shovel snow.Have a nice Day

December 20 2010 at 2:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ADVERTISEMENT

AOL Radio

Listen to AOL Radio Now
play arrow
Top Hip-Hop - Hip-hop's greatest
Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, 50 Cent
play arrow
Top Jams - Hip-hop and crossover hits
T-Pain, Mariah Carey, Akon, Lil Wayne
play arrow
Top R&B - Today's top R&B hits
Kelly Rowland, Rihanna, T.I.
Online Radio Guide

Blogroll

Your Settings

{email}

Subscriptions

Weekly Newsletter

The Boombox Music Blog news in your mailbox. Top Articles, reviews, photos & more.

Realtime alerts

Daily alerts


Update
Cancel
;