What if we only had "Let's Get It Started"s original version?

[Coqui]

So the version of the song "Let's Get It Started" by Black Eyed Peas that everyone is familiar with is actually a version of the song the NBA requested Black Eyed Peas to make for them. More stores were willing to sell this version as the lyrics weren't offensive, and the original kinda fell into obscurity. It seems as though there's been an effort to completely remove the original version in favor of the NBA version to the point that you can only really find it on YouTube (and not by them), so the millennials that do remember the original end up feeling a bit of a Mandela Effect, or even a bit gas lit.

But what if the NBA never made that request, nor did they create a censored version for any other reason? I suspect the song wouldn't be nearly as remembered, as fewer places would be willing to sell them. Black Eyed Peas may stop performing it altogether as general anglophone sensibilities change and slurs become less acceptable (but in this context there was no disrespect); they might not even upload it to YouTube. would They even become as famous a group as they did? Would Fergie still be popular enough to have a solo career? Could this lead to an alternate, even less family friendly version of Black Eyed Peas moving forward?

Do y'all think it'd just become some obscure, edgy period piece few have heard of, become people's problematic fav, or possibly even be a force changing the direction our culture went down? Could the slur in the original end up going down a similar cultural evolution as the word "based" has?

 

[Jay_Maxu]

As far as I can tell for a lot of people, The Black-Eyed Peas were already moving into the pop space (And most would already consider them, effectively, "sell-outs"), so I could still see them moving to be more radio-friendly, even if "Let's Get It Started" doesn't have that change. Could certainly make their propulsion to the top slower, and delay careers for Fergie or damper will.i.am's and the group's brief effects on late 2000s/early 2010s music, brief and seemingly a blip as it was.

In the case that this leads them to stay completely out of the spotlight, though, I don't think the world or even music would change all too much. Perhaps I'm missing out on the BEPs' actual significance in the past two decades outside of being hitmakers (with ABSURDLY earwormy songs), but as with a number of other bands, groups, and singers, they probably could only be said to have just been popular rather than affecting the course of pop culture history. I'm sure any of my fellow Zoomers would be disappointed to not have "I Have a Feeling" pollute their childhood dances and gatherings, though.