Amatz is a song by Filipino rapper

Shanti Dope Sean Patrick Ramos (born April 15, 2001), known professionally as Shanti Dope, is a Filipino rapper, singer and songwriter. He is known for his songs "Nadarang", "Shantidope", "MAU", and "Amatz". Shanti Dope started writing verses in 2013 fol ...

that was released under

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

on March 22, 2019. The word "Amatz" is a slang word for Tagalog “tama” or kick, which could refer to being drunk or high on drugs.

Controversy

Several months after the release of the song,

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA, , ; Filipino: ''Ahensiya ng Pilipinas sa Pagpapatupad ng Batas Laban sa Bawal na Gamot'') is the lead anti-drug law enforcement agency, responsible for preventing, investigating and combating any ...

(PDEA) proposed to ban the song for allegedly promoting drug use. According to the agency, Shanti, in his song, was referring to the high effect of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

, being in its natural/organic state and not altered by any chemical compound. Thus, the PDEA requested the

Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (English: "For Intelligent and Responsible Viewing") , employees = More than 33 , chief1_name = Diorella Maria Sotto-Antonio , chief1_position = Chairperson , agency_type = Film and television classification , parent_agency ...

(MTRCB), the Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-aawit, and the

ABS-CBN Corporation ABS-CBN Corporation is a Filipino media company based in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the largest entertainment and media conglomerate in the Philippines. It is a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation which is owned by t ...

to prevent the airing of the song and its promotion in the different media stations throughout the country. The management of Shanti criticized PDEA over its call to ban the song. According to them, "Amatz" isn't about drugs or marijuana but music – which makes the song's persona "fly." They also added that the ban sets a dangerous precedent for creative and artistic freedom in the country, when a drug enforcement agency can unilaterally decide on what a song is about, and call for its complete ban because it is presumed to go against the government's war on illegal drugs. On 17 June 2019, the

Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas The Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP; en, Association of Broadcasters of the Philippines) is a broadcast media organization in the Philippines which provides its members broadcasting standards. The KBP was organized on April 27, 19 ...

(KBP) banned the song from being aired on all its member TV and radio stations following an order from the

National Telecommunications Commission The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC; fil, Pambansang Komisyon sa Telekomunikasyon) is an attached agency of the Department of Information and Communications Technology responsible for the supervision, adjudication and control over ...

and granting the request by PDEA to do such. Both Shanti Dope and the Concerned Artists of the Philippines slammed Aaron Aquino's move, with the artist group even reminding PDEA that it's not its job to be a music critic.

Accolades

Despite the ban, "Amatz" managed to have nominations from the

Awit Awards The Awit Awards are music awards in the Philippines given annually by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) to recognize the outstanding achievements in the music industry. The word "Awit" means "song" literally in Filipino. T ...

and the

Myx Music Awards The Myx Music Awards, currently known as the Myx Awards, are accolades presented by the cable channel Myx to honor the biggest hitmakers in the Philippines. The awards ceremony is held annually and occurs most commonly in March, and broadcast de ...

. At the 33rd Awit Awards, "Amatz" was nominated for "Best Performance by a Male Recording Artist" and "Music Video of the Year", but lost to "Karera" by TJ Monterde and "Headlights" by Sud respectively. Nonetheless, "Amatz" won the "Best Best Rap/Hip Hop Recording" in the same awards show. "Amatz" was also nominated in the

Myx Awards 2020 Myx Awards 2020 is the 15th installment of the Myx Music Awards, acknowledging the biggest hit makers of 2019 in the Philippine music industry. The awards were held virtually due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Nominees were announced on Ma ...

in "Music Video of the Year" and "Urban Video of the Year" losing both to "Summer" by James Reid and Nadine Lustre and "Fiend" also by James Reid respectively.

Usage in media

"Amatz" was featured in the third episode of the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

television series, ''

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier ''The Falcon and the Winter Soldier'' is an American television miniseries created by Malcolm Spellman for the streaming service Disney+, based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Sam Wilson / Falcon and Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier. ...

'', which was released onto

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

on April 2, 2021.

Track listing

Charts

References

{{authority control 2019 songs Censorship of music Shanti Dope songs Tagalog-language songs