British comedian James Corden mocks Malaysia for 'Despacito' song ban



KUALA LUMPUR, Haylena Krishnamoorthy (dpa) - The Malaysian government's ban on playing the popular hit song "Despacito" on state radio and television made an appearance on British comedian James Corden's "The Late Late Show", receiving various comments from Malaysians on Thursday.
"They could be right. I've heard this song 2,000 times; I still have no idea what it's about," Los Angeles-based Corden said on his talk show as seen in a clip uploaded to his YouTube page on Wednesday.



Malaysian Facebook user Julie Lim commented, "Thank you James Corden for making Malaysia and Despacito even more popular."
Another person going by the name Carlsbery Harry said the song is not banned 100 per cent, adding that people can still download it from the internet.
A representative from an Islamist political party, Atriza Umar, demanded on July 19 that radio stations stop playing the worldwide chart-topper due to its sexual references.
Atriza said youngsters were humming the tune without understanding the meaning of the words.
She said the song, which also features Justin Bieber, is "obscene" and "not compatible with Eastern and Islamic culture."
Afterwards Malaysia's Communication Minister, Salleh Said Keruak said the song was reviewed before being banned due to "public complaints."
"But this is the big difference between the US and Malaysia. In Malaysia, the government bans obscene content. Here, the president tweets it," James jokes to a laughing crowd.
The upbeat hit by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi and rapper Daddy Yankee means "slowly" in Spanish.
It is currently the most streamed track for 4.6 billion times (as of two weeks ago) across all platforms since being released in January.
Billboard also reported it's topped the Hot 100 chart for at least 12 weeks.
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Monday, August 7th 2017
Haylena Krishnamoorthy
           


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