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Cardi B's WAP proves music's dirty secret: Censorship is good business

By Ben Sisario
New York Times·
12 mins to read

Scandalised parents and politicians ushered in warning labels in the 1980s. Now making clean versions of explicit songs means taking advantage of every possible revenue stream.

Doc Wynter still remembers the first time he heard WAP.

A top radio programmer for decades, Wynter has come across countless explicit rap tracks and "blue" R&B songs that required nips and tucks before they could be played on-air. But even Wynter, the head of hip-hop and R&B programming for the broadcasting giant iHeartMedia,

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