The Carolina Mudcats and the messages in music

Last Sunday the family and I enjoyed a day at the ballpark, watching the Carolina Mudcats demolish the Tennessee Smokies 10-2. It seemed like a very family-friendly place, right down to the Mudcats letting all the kids round the bases after the game.

It was almost perfect except for one tiny detail. You see, there are a lot of short breaks in baseball that are routinely filled by music played played by folks in the stadium sound booth. Most of these songs were familiar 80s hits that put a smile on my face but there was one particular rap song that played over and over, making me more annoyed every time I heard it.

Both readers of MT.Net know I like all kinds of music. In fact, a large number of my blog’s incoming Google traffic comes from websurfers looking for lyrics to a popular old-school rap song. The song played at the Mudcats’ Five County Stadium was gangster rap and it carries an entirely different tone. It’s by Ace Hood and called “Cash Flow.”

“Knock knock bang bang, where the cash at?” goes one lyric

Maybe I’m an old fart but I was quite disappointed to hear a song glorifying armed robbery being played in front of young kids. It’s even more depressing knowing that Raleigh’s police department wants to take troubled kids out to a ballgame to get them out of their rough, gang-plagued neighborhoods for a few hours. There would be no escape from the media message that killing and stealing are the way to gain respect.

I thought about it some more on the way home and then decided to email the Mudcats and gently express my concern:

Hi,

My family and I attended yesterday’s Mudcats game courtesy of the Mudcats “Reading Buddy” program, which my daughter earned through her reading. The whole family enjoyed our outing: folks were friendly, our seats were comfortable, and our two kids were engaged and enjoying themselves. It is great to have such a fun, family-friendly activity available at a reasonable price.

If there was one quibble I would take, however, it is with the music. It isn’t with the 80s music, of which I’m a fan, but one particular rap song: “Cash Flow” by Ace Hood. The lyric in question is:
“knock knock bang bang where the cash at?”

http://www.kovideo.net/lyrics/a/Ace-Hood/Cash-Flow.html

I think you’ll agree that playing a song that celebrates armed robbery is not exactly keeping with your family-friendly atmosphere, especially when Raleigh city leaders are considering bringing at-risk kids to minor league baseball games as a way to keep them away from the influence of gangs.

Small quibble, I know, but an otherwise excellent time at the ballpark.

Thanks for a fun time!

Regards,

Mark Turner

What really disappoints me is the whole week went by with nary a peep from the Mudcats. No response whatsoever. Regardless of whether or not the Mudcats agree with my complaint, proper customer service dictates that I should get some response – even if it’s “go pound sand.”

Hopefully someone from the Carolina Mudcats will find this and explain the lack of response. It’s a shame, too, because our day at the ballgame came so close to being a home run.