December 15 [8:30 EDT] -- The folks at NOW aren't the only ones making noise about Prodigy's new single, "Smack My Bitch Up."
In recent interviews with the MTV Radio Network, both Chumbawamba and Moby have taken the group to task for what they see as an inappropriate song.
Chumbawamba's Dunstan Bruce teed off on the song, saying, "It's about the fact that that song is, to me, promotes domestic violence, promotes violence against women. It's really, really, really irresponsible to just, firstly, use that lyric, and then not have anything to sort of, not to have any sort of justification to why you used it, other than, 'We just like to be controversial.'" [250k Audio File]
In an interview a few days later, Moby echoed a similar sentiment saying,
In defense of the song, Prodigy issued a statement last week (see "Prodigy Video To Air On MTV As Controversy Continues" in the MTV News Gallery) noting that the single's only lyrics, "Change my pitch up/Smack my bitch up," are part of a sample taken from the Ultramagnetic MCs' "Give The Drummer Some."
The band also went on to state that they are against violence against women or gratuitous violence of any kind.
