AOLTW, ATLANTIC, SLIP-N-SLIDE SUED OVER "CLEAN" LYRICS

Gee, you’d think if you were buying a Dirty South hip-hop record called “Thugs Are Us,” for an 11-year-old boy that it would be clean, wholesome family fun. Sure, the “clean” version includes “Can’t F**K With The South” and “Bricks And Marijuana,” but hey, mom knows best, right?

Apparently not, as a Maryland mom has filed suit against AOL Time Warner, Atlantic Records and Slip-N-Slide, alleging that she found explicit lyrics on the “clean” version of rapper Trick Daddy’s latest CD, “Thugs Are Us.” The woman, who bought the CD for her pre-teen son, filed the suit earlier this week in Maryland Circuit Court.

The suit hit the courts just two days before the National Institute On Media And The Family, the American Psychological Association and other organizations wrote a letter to Congress criticizing ratings and advisory systems, calling them confusing and inaccurate. Coincidence? I don’t think so. Or as the Trick Daddy songs says, “Take It To Da House”—and Senate.

Responding to the suit, Warner Music Group released a statement saying, “[The lawsuit] is clear on its face that the plaintiffs misunderstand the RIAA guidelines on parental labels. If record companies and artists can be sued just because one parent or judge believes that an album was improperly labeled, then that discourages all record companies from labeling, which means everyone—parents and artists alike—lose. And it’s true, you can’t fuck with the South.”

No wonder the closing track on “Thugs Are Us” is called “Amerika.”