Well this is some ish. We got a letter from someone who is from Teairra Mari‘s team that BET has banned her and Soulja Boy‘s video for “Sponsor”.
Apparently BET has deemed the video as detrimental to young women because it supposedly teaches them to get paid for sex/relations with men. Which is debatable in itself. And Teairra’s people say this is a blatant double standard in the industry.
The drama when you read on…
We actually confirmed this afternoon that BET indeed is giving the video a much harder time airing. All because the station execs are weary of the message. Here’s the letter we received:
I was informed that 106 and Park, a source for African Americans to promote their music, have banned Teairra Mari‘s song Sponsor and other projects from surfacing on their channel. No one else will report because they don’t want to put it on blast. I feel bad for the underdogs because they are not given a fair chance and its even worse when your own kind won’t promote you. What’s bad about Sponsor that overshadows any work that Lil Wayne, Ludacris, and many others have showcased on BET? Why is it, do you think, that booty shaking and such is allowed but a video by a woman encouraging others to make it is bad. Why is it that Lil Wayne can perform “Every Girl In the World” with his daughter on stage, but women artists have to be “appropriate”. I understand if they would at least let Teairra come on the show to explain the concept behind the song. It just seems like a shady business where people who have made it have certain control over those that haven’t
through shady connections.
I know people may say “well who checkin’ for…” but what if these people actually had a chance in the business if it wasn’t so shady?
Why am I not surprised by this type of foolishness from the network? Did BET not watch until the end when Teairra clearly displays her own Black Card after going on a day of shopping sprees and such? Yes, the video made you believe Soulja Boy was her sponsor and yes the words of the song do ask a male to “sponsor a lifestyle” in one way or another. But is it not the same when male artists so openly show in their videos how they’re buying up the stores for their groupie/jump off who trailing behind all happy and aimlessly. So that type of basic ish is ok? But when a woman is buying her own ish and/or putting it out there that her man can buy her whatever he pleases, it becomes a problem?
I’m not going to go into the conspiracy theory glaring me in my eye concerning BET rather having women look like jump offs or used as booty shakers than look like they’re in control of their own situation. Nope…not gonna do it. Peep the video for yourselves and speak on it:
http://theybf.com/2010/04/15/bet-banned-teairra-mari-soulja-boys-sponsor-video
