Music

Katy Perry had to make 25 important lyrical adjustments for "Ninjas in Paris"

by Aaron Zorgel

Katy Perry took to Fearne Cotton’s Live Lounge on BBC Radio 1 yesterday in support of her newest (re)release, The Complete Confection. What followed was an intimate performance of some of the stars recent hits, including “Part of Me,” “The One That Got Away,” and “Firework.” The small studio audience was then treated to a cover song to cap off the performance. Hint: it’s a song she can’t even speak the title of.

Katy Perry attempted the (not quite) impossible — covering “Niggas In Paris” by Kanye West and Jay-Z.

Even when you set aside the liberal use of “niggas” in the song, the lyrics to “N.I.P.” are riddled with expletives. Katy faced the challenge of self-censoring to make her version both a) clean for the radio and b) erm, not completely racist. If you’ve ever come across the censored version of the single, you know that it’s pretty much unlistenable. So Katy Perry had a mountain to climb. A very socially precarious mountain.

We thought it might be interesting to break down the lyrical adjustments Katy Perry made for her version, and see just how much editing and self-censoring she had to do to get the song to a performable state. Watch the video, and try to follow along with our lyrics sheet. Anything caps-locked and in square brackets is an edit made by KP.

“Ball so hard, mother [EFFS] wanna find me
First a [NINJA] gotta find me
What’s 50 grand to a [MOFO] like me could you please remind me?
Ball so hard that [ISH] crazy
Y’all don’t know that don’t [ish] phase me
Nets could go 0-82, and I look at you like [ISH] crazy
Ball so hard that [ISH] weird
We ain’t even spose to be here,
Ball so hard, since we here
It’s only right that we be fair
Psycho, I’m liable to be go Michael
Take your pick, Jackson, Tyson, Jordan, Game 6
Ball so hard, got a broke clock, Rolleys that don’t tick tok
Audemars that’s losing time, hidden behind all these big rocks
Ball so hard I’m shocked too, I’m supposed to be locked up too
If you escaped what I’ve escaped, you’d be in Paris getting [BANGED?] up too
Let’s get faded, Le Meurice for like 6 days
Gold bottles, scold models, spillin’ Ace on my sick J’s
Ball so hard, [TRICK] behave
Just might let you meet Ye,
Chi towns, D. Rose, I’m movin’ the Nets to BK

Ball so hard [MOTHERS] wanna fine me
That [SO] CRAY
That [SO] CRAY
That [SO] CRAY

Ball so hard [MOTHERS] wanna fine me
That [SO] CRAY
That [SO] CRAY
That [SO] CRAY

She said Ye can we get married at the mall?
I said look you need to crawl ‘fore you ball
Come and meet me in the bathroom stall
And show me why you deserve to have it all
Ball so hard, ball so hard, that [SO] cray, ain’t it [K]?
Ball so hard, what she order, what she order, fish filet
Ball so hard, your whip so cold, so hard, that old thing
Ball so hard, act like you’ll ever be around motha[EFFS] like this again
Bougie girl, grab her hand
[EFF THAT CHICK] she don’t wanna dance
Excuse my french, but I’m in France
I’m just sayin’ Prince William’s ain’t do it right, if you ask me
Cause if I was him I would have married Kate & Ashley
What’s Gucci my [NINJA]?
What’s Louie my killa?
What’s drugs my deala?
What’s that jacket, Margiela?
Doctors say I’m the illest
Cause I’m suffering from realness
Got my [NINJAS] in [LONDON]
And they going gorillas

Ball so hard [MOTHERS] wanna fine me
Ball so hard [MOTHERS] wanna fine me

You are now watching the throne
Don’t let me get in my zone, don’t let me get in my zone

You are now watching the throne
Don’t let me get in my zone, don’t let me get in my zone
I’m definitely in my zone.

Ball so hard [MOTHERS] wanna fine me”

Okay, so let’s set aside how mortifyingly bad horrible that was for a moment, and tally the edits.

Fuckers to [EFFS]: 2
Nigga to [NINJA]: 3
Mothafucka to [MOFO]: 1
Shit to [ISH]: 4
Fucked to [BANGED (or something?)]: 1
Bitch to [TRICK]: 1
Mothafuckas to [MOTHERS]: 5
Shit to [SO]: 6
Fuck ol’ girl to [EFF THAT CHICK]: 1
Paris to [LONDON]: 1

Total lyrical adjustments: 25

“Niggas” to “Ninjas.” How mad is the Juggalo community that Katy Perry re-appropriated “their” word? It’s a good thing there isn’t a Dark Carnival contingent of BBC 1 listeners, because they for sure would have stormed the studio, and thrown human shit and broken glass at her. Stay away from the Wicked shit, KP.

Also, can you imagine what a catastrophic disaster it would have been if Katy Perry had let any of the original lyrics slip out? As a normal-ish white guy, I can relate to that blistering feeling of panic any time I realize that I’m unconsciously mumbling along to a song that isn’t lyrically appropriate for a normal-ish white guy to be vocalizing. I quickly and nervously check around me to see if anyone was listening, and if anyone is offended. “Phew,” I think. “Thank god one was watching me clumsily rapping along to ‘Forgot About Dre’ on this bus.” Unfortunately, when you’re Katy Perry, someone is always watching, and they’re a quick draw with a camera phone.

After the deluge of backlash, I’m sure Katy Perry would say that all of that lyrical adjusting wasn’t worth it. The musical arrangement is actually pretty cool, but it’s impossible to look past what a questionable idea it was for Katy Perry to tackle this song, censorship or not. This cover was destined to be universally hated.

What a cray idea. So cray.