Inside the LBP delay: A Grammy award-winning artist's 2006 song

by James Ransom-Wiley { Oct 17th 2008 at 1:30PM }

As SCEE vaguely put it, "one of the background music tracks licensed from a record label for use in the game" is the cause of LittleBigPlanet's -- now worldwide -- delay. So which track is it? Well, the song is "Tapha Niang" from the 2006 album Boulevard de l'Independance by Grammy award-winning Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté (and it's available on iTunes, both Zune and Amazon marketplaces, and we imagine just about any place popular world music is sold). You can even listen to the track in its entirety on Toumani's MySpace page.

From the brief research we've done (um ... Wikipedia), we have yet to find evidence to suggest "Tapha Niang" (or any Toumani Diabaté production for that matter) has been criticized for possible religious offenses prior to today's development. In fact, a profile published by Taipei Times describes Toumani Diabaté as "a devout Muslim, with his own prayer room next to his office."

While the backstory seems to indicate "Tapha Niang" was a tasteful, if not highly regarded selection for LBP's soundtrack, the reality is Sony is beginning a process to remove the song's inclusion from the game. With Church of England's beef still fresh in memory, Sony's no doubt playing this one safe as can be. Sorry SackBoy, but you've been benched.

[Thanks to cc123 for providing the starting block for our research!]

Tags: lbp, littlebigplanet, media-molecule, tapha-niang, toumani-diabate

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Dr. @ Oct 17th 2008 1:38PM

Ridiculous. Please tell me you can add customized music to LBP levels that you make... >:)

DigDug @ Oct 17th 2008 2:18PM

What is ridiculous, is in short, Sony can't win in your childish eyes.

If they take it out, they are wrong, if they leave it in, they would have been wrong too.

How long before Xbox owners grow up, surely they must be near puberty by now...

copa @ Oct 17th 2008 2:23PM

You are confused, Digdug. If they take it out they are wrong. If they leave it in, or provide an optional patch to disable it, they are right. Pretty simple.

Delgado @ Oct 17th 2008 2:24PM

I'm an Xbox owner, and I'm pretty sure that I'm older than you.

If not, then I am definitely more mature, based on your wonderfully insightful post.

Dr. @ Oct 17th 2008 2:29PM

What's ridiculous is that you went and brought up the xbox for some reason.

Bellerophon @ Oct 17th 2008 3:16PM

copa: MM already said they have a patch ready for launch, but that doesn't account for those who don't have their PS3 hooked up to the net. If Sony leave it in, they're gonna get stung anyways.

I can imagine this on Fox News already. All we need now is some religious nutjob who hasn't played the game and badmouth it as if it's the most important thing in the world. NEWSFLASH: It's not.

antsmarching @ Oct 17th 2008 4:38PM

@Bell:
You don't understand Fox News at all. Because the track didn't offend Christians, they wouldn't give a fuck. They'd dismiss the complaints as frivolous, just like you did.

So you're pretty much Bill O'Reilly

Paulmichael @ Oct 17th 2008 8:06PM

@antsmarching, it would be a frivolous complaint if the patch were to come out on launch day. There is no excuse in having a PS3 and no internet connectivity to it. Even if your PS3 isn't connected, it's not that hard to find a computer, connect a $10 flash drive, download the update and install it onto the PS3 manually. Hell, public libraries provide free internet access. This same process is repeated all the time with firmware updates.

Sandgoose @ Oct 22nd 2008 3:37PM

DigDug is a twit. The only people who make discrepancies between "Xbox" and "PS" gamers are people who can't afford to have both systems. They're both consoles that play video games. Some different, many the same, and here's the shocker: they aren't mutually exclusive -- you can have both.

Chadwick @ Nov 12th 2008 3:57AM

Ha, you're all retarded for arguing over Xbox Vs. PS3 on a post that has nothing to do with such. You're retarded for arguing about consoles at all. WHO GIVES A SHIT? They're fucking video games.... Play and enjoy them. Don't go around turning them into a religion or leverage in a mindless nerd-war. Where do you idiots crawl from?

As for the post...
I guess I can see why they're being careful, but it makes me sick that they have to be THAT careful in the first place. People need to, I dunno, grow up?

anyVegetable @ Oct 17th 2008 1:38PM

I like that song. I wish t was kept in there.

nonpareil @ Oct 17th 2008 1:41PM

Damn - it's a chill song. What utter bullshit.

Jakka @ Oct 17th 2008 1:46PM

Like it, too.

aristokrat @ Oct 17th 2008 2:07PM

Cool album cover as well.

343 Guilty Fart @ Oct 17th 2008 2:30PM

Wow, this song is pretty cool, I could totally see it the safari themed level. It's such a pleasant sounding song, why is this offensive? (rhetorical question)

FemaleOrca @ Oct 17th 2008 4:08PM

Really great song for the game. I hope they simply replace it with an instrumental version. It would be a shame to lose such an inspired song choice from the game entirely.

j.howlett @ Oct 17th 2008 4:54PM

i like it

Josh @ Oct 18th 2008 12:58AM

Same here, I'm really starting to like it the more I hear it.

ryan @ Oct 18th 2008 1:23AM

great song, catchy, i agree, but i do not want lyrics that have NOTHING to do with the game for background music. you tend to come off as a pretty ignorant developer that way. so it's good that they changed it.

Psalm Bowser @ Oct 18th 2008 5:43AM

What's wrong with you people? The song is shit.

famikom @ Oct 19th 2008 3:42PM

Yeah, the song is cute.

rogXue @ Oct 17th 2008 1:39PM

Sony = bunch of bitches after this...

dwhite @ Oct 17th 2008 1:59PM

I totally disagree. I don't think sony is to blame for this, but rather its the latest shining example of a company being concerned about having a product linked to some random dumb ass that kills his neighbors and puppies with a fork and then has his lawyer blame it on the game.
I don't even like sony and had no intention of buying this game, but I am sad for the obvious social comment this sends out, which is: One step forward for creativity in releasing an innovative and fresh idea in a product and Two steps back for being enslaved by the constant "politically correct" microscope that scrutinizes every facet of our lives and entertainment.

Drew @ Oct 17th 2008 2:22PM

No, it's okay! Now they have more space, and can add online 4 player co-op create.

Jarpo @ Oct 17th 2008 1:39PM

bah

Anam @ Oct 17th 2008 2:22PM

Well put, dwhite, though I think you may have missed the subtleties and underlying theme present in Jarpo's analysis. In his comment, he obviously expresses a certain critical flavor mixed with an edgy, modern approach often lacking in conventional comments. While perhaps generalizing more than a social commentary should, his minimalistic style has certainly shown a cunning view of today's culture.

Pwnzerfaust @ Oct 17th 2008 3:56PM

Anam, you are instantly and permanently my favorite person.

deaftly @ Oct 17th 2008 1:46PM

and people wonder why i'm atheist

Jakka @ Oct 17th 2008 1:47PM

I'm an Agnostic for a change.

Atheism still requires you to believe that there's no God while Agnosticism simply doesn't give two shits.

Metal Geario 360 @ Oct 17th 2008 1:59PM

We on the planet Marklar consider everything Marklar, so we can avoid Marklar.

MARKLAR!

-SouthPark

Lars @ Oct 17th 2008 2:04PM

Well, I'm Agnostic and that's a little more brash than I'd put it. To me, being Agnostic means I believe that no person on this earth could possibly know what the afterlife is or if it even exists.

Puli @ Oct 17th 2008 2:06PM

Incorrect. Ignosticism doesn't give two shits. Atheism says you don't believe. Theism says you do believe. Agnosticism says you don't know either way. Agnosticism and Theism/Atheism are not mutually exclusive. a.k.a(I don't know for sure but I don't believe there is a god, or I don't know for sure but I do believe there is a god.)

dark_inchworm @ Oct 17th 2008 2:08PM

MY BELIEFS THEY BRING ALL THE BOYS TO THE YARD
AND THEY'RE LIKE
IT'S BETTER THAN YOURS

Jakka @ Oct 17th 2008 2:17PM

@ Puli

Ignosticism, is pretty much still a branch of Agnosticism.Like Protestantism is still a part of Christianity for example.

Either way, you're right.The more you look into it the more they start to sound alike.

Illspirit @ Oct 17th 2008 1:47PM

This is shit...we've had the gaming sitting in the back of our store for over a week now
I'm tempted to walk back there and just take one if all we are doing is sending them back so they can be destroyed...
there is no way this won't end on shelves everywhere anyway
Guess I'll have to go hunting on tuesday to find someone that put it out.