From the get-go, it’s obvious that Indonesian rapper Young Lex’s music and videos are not meant to be consumed by young children.
The rapper, real name Samuel Alexander Pieter, has been involved in numerous controversies in the past. This time, the 27-year-old is facing calls to take down the music video for his latest single Lah Bodo Amat (which can be loosely translated to “Whatever” or “Like I Care”) over concerns that the song’s lyrics may negatively influence children.
In the song, which was released last week, Young Lex disses his haters who he said can only leave negative comments online, while playing up his successes as well as those of several popular influencers and celebrities, including gaming Youtuber Kimi Hime. It should be noted that small children provide backing vocals in the song and also feature in the official music video above.
If you speak Indonesian, you can check out the lyrics video for the song here.
Dedy Susanto, a well-known motivational speaker, last week posted on Instagram asking Young Lex to take down the videos to Lah Bodo Amat. His initial post garnered over 26,000 likes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0py0iIB8ty/
“Dear Youtuber whose videos is campaigning with “whatever, you talk too much” through their lyrics, did you know that so many young children now say this to their parents? We request that the video be removed now before more children imitate this. We all have our social responsibility not just to create recklessly,” Dedy wrote in the post.
In his next post, Dedy posted the email address of Kominfo (the IT Ministry) so his more than 540K followers could help him request the ministry to take down Young Lex’s videos.
Later on, Dedy posted a screenshot of his direct message to Young Lex, along with the rapper’s reply.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0r1sRVhLup/
“Mas, there are so many children who say ‘whatever, you talk too much’ to their teachers and parents. I’m sure if someday your children tell you the same thing, you won’t be pleased… Please take down the video, I hope you can support us, those who struggle for the psychological wellbeing of children,” Dedy wrote to Young Lex.
Young Lex responded by demanding Dedy give him irrefutable proof that children were imitating his lyrics, including how many of them have been doing it, to avoid deleting his videos based on assumptions.
“Mas, such a baseless accusation can be counted as slander. I’ve been dealing with this kind of thing for the last nine years,” Young Lex wrote to Dedy after being told that collecting proof would be difficult.
At any rate, Kominfo said yesterday that they have reported Young Lex’s videos to YouTube but said they have yet to receive any response from the video platform.
Meanwhile, the Commission for the Protection of Indonesian Children (KPAI) weighed in on the controversy, choosing not to call for the song’s censorship.
“KPAI reminds parents to only show videos, songs, and information that is appropriate for children,” KPAI Deputy Chief Rita Pranawati told Detik yesterday.
