MTV pulls video, claiming ’suicidal undertones would be problematic’

This past February, Detroit rapper Invincible submitted the video for her track “Ropes” to mtvU for consideration in the channel’s lineup. The video was accepted in mid-March. But after MTV’s standards department further reviewed the video’s content, they reconsidered, providing Invincible with the following response by email:

“Unfortunately the Standards Department decided on passing on the video, citing how its suicidal undertones would be problematic on the channel it was accepted for (mtvU).”

MTV’s decision makes little sense. If you read Invincible’s lyrics (included at the end of this post), there’s no glorification of suicide. Yes, the topic is pierced in her lyrics, but is done in a way that is sensitive to the subject matter. This point is reiterated in an accompanying message on the “Ropes” YouTube page that states:

Invincible and Tiombe’s intention with the song is to speak openly and boldly about the prevalence of depression in our communities. With suicide being the third leading cause of death among 15-24 year-olds, “Ropes” aims to break the pattern of turning a blind eye to mental health issues, and to begin the process of healing.

What’s strange about MTV’s decision to pull the video after initially giving it the greenlight is the forum for which it was intended. “Ropes” was slated to run on mtvU, MTV’s channel geared specifically for college/university audiences. The channel’s website description even boasts that it features “College Music, Activism, Shows and Activities on Campus.” While that strand of words is mostly benign SEO terminolgy, one stands out: Activism. If MTV believes activism is indeed part of mtvU’s mission as a channel, and isn’t just using the word as a marketing ploy to enlist the ‘politically minded’ Che Guevera t-shirt set, “Ropes” should technically be a perfect fit. The type of backpacker, posi hip-hop that Invincible creates has long been known for its roots in activism (see: ATCQ, De La Soul, Blackstar, etc.). But instead of talking about a generic ‘revolution’ in her lyrics, or some other vague topic, Invincible decided to tackle a controversial topic: suicide among teens and young adults, with a specific focus on those in the hip-hop scene who are struggling with mental health issues.

“I think this is an issue that certainly needs to get out there,” Invincible’s rep Matt Sonzala told me by email. “I’d like to ask MTV how many times they played the song “Jeremy” from Pearl Jam?” While Invincible’s video for “Ropes” is not framed with the same type of theatrics as Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy,” Sonzala has a point. Even after Invincible launched “Ropes” on okayplayer and YouTube to positive response, MTV didn’t reconsider.

“MTV didn’t change its mind,” Invincible tells me. “But I feel we made a stronger impact by releasing it online and opening up the dialogue about why they wouldn’t show it. I’ve gotten an incredible response from people both on comment sections and personal messages on Myspace and Facebook from listeners who related to the song and were thankful that it was finally being addressed publicly in a hip-hop way.”

One of Invincible’s favorite responses came from a user on the okayplayer messageboards:

“I am a young adult male and I have been dealing with depression personally. I didn’t start getting help until a year ago. I realized that everything I was feeling had been that way for years. I gave in to the accepted norms and was embarassed at first to get help. I thought about suicide but it wasn’t solution for me. People I know have committed suicide or attempted. As a black male if you cant deal with shit emotionally, the perception is your a punk or a pussy. Real talk your human. The only problem I have with the song is it doesn’t offer a solution. Maybe there could be a follow up to it or something! Great start this segment of our culture needs some light. Detroit Stand Up!”

A recent press release from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) states: “Suicide is the third leading cause of death in all teens in the United States, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.” This point is echoed in Invicible’s statement in her YouTube video. The same press release also goes on to reveal an even more disturbing trend:

“Historically, black teens and young adults have lower suicide rates than white teens, but in recent decades, the suicide rate for black youth has increased dramatically. Black American teens, especially females, may be at high risk for attempting suicide even if they have never been diagnosed with a mental disorder, according to researchers funded in part by NIMH. Their findings, based on responses from adolescent participants in the National Survey of American Life (NSAL), provide the first national estimates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (ideation) and suicide attempts in 13- to 17-year-old black youth in the United States.” (source)

The study cited by the NIMH was published in the March 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The results of this particular study, coupled with the high annual suicide rate among teens — regardless of race — should, if anything, encourage more open discussion about suicide and the mental health issues that lead someone to take their own life.

“I think the main solution,” Invincible says, ”is acknowledging this exists and is real, as an entry point to a larger dialogue about the root causes and holistic ways to address it.”

“Ropes”
Lyrics by Invincible, chorus by Tiombe Lockhart

It’s hard to get a glimpse of hope
When you against the ropes
Try to penny pinch but after bills and rent ya broke
Life it always throws a wrench like Emp at Interscope
You in the aftermath succumb to numb it with a drink or smoke
To ease the pain I sleep all day
Relieves the hangover from the E and J
Lookin for a tunnel’s end, a light to lead the way
But the shame has been ingrained into my DNA
Cuz pop’s was a failure
Mom was on lithium
Always settled for less than the best
No one to pity em
No one to drop a pretty gem
At seven tied a plastic bag over my head
Like, “What’s the point but getting older and dead?”
So innocent, searching for missing links
Surrounded by the carcasses of instruments
Of dreams departed hardened by the sentiments
Out of tune and sharpened by the artists who neglected it
I’m scarred by my resemblance

Chorus (performed by Tiombe Lockhart)

Silly things
That I do to feel life
I realize
I drink and I smoke
Scrambling for a hint of hope
My tight rope

You know the one where a rabbi, imam, and pastor walk in
To a bar to discuss what happens if the caskets dropping
The one inside committed suicide
Family spastic sobbin’
The answers come in more flavors than Baskin-Robbins
Will god forgive ‘em for the sin
and will they ever make amends
Or was it the last option off of the path they walked in?
Depending on if they believed in hell or heaven
Or if there was a chemical imbalance in their cerebellum
Or if the pain was overwhelming full of self loathing
Feeling plagued by failure like the first males chosen
Or what if hell’s frozen, and life was only this purgatory?
Full of greed, and murder, war
See I know you heard the story
What if they wait and have faith to reincarnate?
With luck they won’t be stuck again between a rock and hard place
Running in a hamster wheel
We wondering what answer’s real
And star gaze pray someone above to keep our heart safe.

Chorus (performed by Tiombe Lockhart)

Silly things
That I do to feel life
I realize
I drink and I smoke
Scrambling for a hint of hope
My tight rope

I heard the barrels cry wishing they could spare ya lives
Was feeling paralyzed but no I wasn’t scared to die
Feared not livin’ to the fullest so i pulled it
All or nothing
Now somebody wanna call my bluff when
I tried to flinch
Told them that the suicide attempt was cause I’d rather die
Than live and ride the bench
For every victory there’s like 50 times the setbacks
For every revolution there’s a death trap
And everytime I see police attackin’ with a tazer gun
A protester that’s down already on the ground my face is stunned
I see people that’s unaffected like “that’s just for safety hon”
Turn around and tell myself: “You’re not the crazy one”
To all the unfazed and numb, hope that you hear
What I’ve spoken is clear
So you stop repressing choking the tears
We all walk the line between insanity and sanity
And hope and despair
Hope and despair

Outro (performed by Tiombe Lockhart)
I realize
I’m as big as the sun in the sky
Wild dreams and mild denies
Slow raw and numb outside
I dream in the snow
I drink and smoke
Hint of hope
Walking on the tight rope…

(Lyrics source)